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the
Unofficial Guide ®
to
Windows
Vista
™
Derek Torres and Stuart Mudie
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Page i
the
Unofficial Guide ®
to
Windows
Vista
™
Derek Torres and Stuart Mudie
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Unofficial Guide® to Windows Vista™ Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River Street Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2007 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4355, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising here from. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, Unofficial Guide and all related trademarks, logos, and trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. Microsoft and Windows Vista are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at (800) 762-2974, outside the U.S. at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. For more information about Wiley products, please visit our web site at www.wiley.com. Library of Congress Control Number: 2006939454 ISBN: 978-0-470-04576-3 Manufactured in the United States of America 10
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In loving memory of Ann D. Gray, you are gone but never forgotten To my family and friends — Derek Torres To Ellie and Justine, with love — Stuart Mudie
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Acknowledgements Derek Torres I’d like to first thank my good friend co-author, Stuart Mudie, for contributing four chapters to this book. This book certainly is richer thanks to his help. I’d also like to thank my wife, Céline, and our two lads for putting up with my seven day work weeks so that I could complete my writing. Special thanks to our brilliant team at Wiley, including our acquisitions editor Jody Lefevere (thanks for yet another opportunity to undertake a labor of love), our project editor Beth Taylor, and our technical editor Jim Kelly. I’d like to thank my agent, Lynn Haller, for her dedication and hard work. Thanks to my parents, family and friends who’ve helped along the way. I’d also like to thank both Arnaud and Alan, who put me on the path to writing. Stuart Mudie Thanks to Ellie and Justine, for everything, and in particular for their patience and support during the writing of this book; my parents Marion and Bill Mudie, for all their love and encouragement, without which I wouldn’t be where I am today; my co-author Derek Torres, for his friendship over the years and in particular for getting me involved in this project in the first place; Lucia Holguín Diego, whose father might one day tell her why; my agent, Lynn Haller, for her hard work and dedication; and our editors Jody Lefevere, Beth Taylor and Jim Kelly, and all the other fine folks at Wiley.
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Credits Acquisitions Editor
Jody Lefevere Project Editor
Beth Taylor Technical Editor
James F. Kelly Copy Editor
Beth Taylor Editorial Manager
Robyn Siesky Vice President & Group Executive Publisher
Richard Swadley Vice President & Publisher
Barry Pruett
Project Coordinator
Adrienne Martinez Graphics & Production Specialists
Beth Brooks Jonelle Burns Jennifer Mayberry Heather Ryan Amanda Spagnuolo Quality Control Technician
Brian H. Walls Proofreading
Laura L. Bowman Indexing
Richard Shrout Book Interior Design
Lissa Auciello-Brogan Elizabeth Brooks Wiley Bicentennial Logo
Richard J. Pacifico
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About the Authors Derek Torres is a technical communicator and author. He is the coauthor of The Unofficial Guide to Windows XP and is the author of ASP.NET 2.0: Your visual blueprint for developing Web applications. He is also a contributor to Microsoft’s Work Essentials Web site and Windows Vista Expert Zone. When he’s not writing, he enjoys traveling, gastronomy, and doing nothing. He is currently based in Washington DC and tracks his activities at www.derektorres.net. Stuart Mudie is a Scot living in Paris, France. A professional communicator since 1995, he has worked with numerous companies in the IT and Telecommunications sectors in such fields as mobile applications and services, Web content management systems, and business intelligence. He has been blogging regularly about all of this (and also about food, wine, languages and music, just a few of his other loves) since 2001 at www.blethers.com.
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I Installation, Configuration, and Customization ...............................................1 1 The Road to Windows Vista.......................................3 A brief history of Windows Vista ..................................3 What’s new in Windows Vista? .....................................6 Working with the Vista interface ...............................6 Control Panel ........................................................9 Searches.............................................................10 XPS support ........................................................11 Live Icons ...........................................................11 Borders ..............................................................12 Performance........................................................12 Sidebar and gadgets .............................................14 Ease of Access Center ............................................15 Introducing Internet Explorer 7...............................15 Improved security ................................................17 Creating backups..................................................18 Synching data .....................................................19 Speech recognition ...............................................19 Windows SideShow ...............................................20 Windows multimedia.............................................20 Windows Update ..................................................21 Other applications ................................................22 The many editions of Windows Vista ...........................22 Windows Vista Starter ...........................................23 Windows Vista Home Basic.....................................24 Windows Vista Home Premium ................................24 Windows Vista Business .........................................24 Windows Vista Enterprise .......................................25 Windows Vista Ultimate.........................................25 How it will ship....................................................26 Should I make the jump to Windows Vista?..................26 What Microsoft did right ...........................................27 What Microsoft got wrong .........................................29
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Contents
Introduction.....................................................................xix
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Other members of the Vista family ..............................................31 Microsoft Windows Vista 64-bit................................................31 Microsoft Windows Vista N ......................................................31 Windows Vista Tablet PC edition ..............................................32 Choosing the right edition ......................................................32 Pricing Windows Vista ...............................................................34 Just the facts ..........................................................................35 2
Preparing for Installation........................................................37 Installation options..................................................................37 Custom installation ...............................................................38 Upgrade..............................................................................39 Dual boot installation............................................................41 Network installation ..............................................................42 Other installation options.......................................................42 Buy a new computer, get Vista free .............................................43 Upgrade your existing computer .................................................47 Use your existing hardware ........................................................50 The Windows Vista hardware compatibility list ..............................52 Collecting information about your computer.................................52 Using the System Information feature ......................................52 Putting the numbers together .................................................53 Dealing with firmware when working with hardware ....................54 Determine device driver versions ..............................................54 What’s your (file) type? .........................................................54 Internet settings ..................................................................55 The Upgrade Advisor .................................................................57 About activation and registration ...............................................58 Upgrading your current version of Windows ..................................61 If you learned anything in this chapter .......................................62 Just the facts ..........................................................................63
3
Installing Windows Vista.........................................................65 Hard drives and partitioning ......................................................65 Shedding the fat: Viva NTFS .......................................................68 Installing Windows Vista: Custom installation...............................69 Installing Windows Vista: Upgrade installation..............................76 Installing Windows Vista: Network installation..............................80 Installing Windows Vista: Dual booting with Windows ....................82 Installing Windows Vista: Dual booting with Linux ........................85 Logging on to a Domain or Workgroup ......................................87
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Uninstalling or removing Windows Vista.......................................87 Just the facts ..........................................................................88 4
Managing the Windows Desktop...............................................89 Meet the Welcome Center ..........................................................89 Introducing the Aero experience .................................................94 How does Aero affect Vista? ...................................................99 Aero and the Vista interface..................................................100 Back to the desktop basics.......................................................101 Time to launch and roll! .......................................................102 Using the taskbar................................................................102 Clock ............................................................................103 Volume Control...............................................................104 Network .......................................................................104 Windows Security Alerts ..................................................105 Windows Sidebar ............................................................105 Desktop resolution..................................................................105 Video cards, drivers, and management applications ......................107 Desktop backgrounds and screen savers .....................................108 Working with themes...............................................................110 Icons....................................................................................113 Relearning the Start menu .......................................................114 Start menu properties ..........................................................118 Introducing the Windows Sidebar ..............................................121 Using taskbars and toolbars .....................................................123 Taming the taskbar..............................................................123 Customizing toolbars ...........................................................125 All systems are go: The notification area .................................126 Creating shortcuts ...............................................................127 Using the Windows Help system................................................128 Working with Ease of Access ....................................................130 Working with gadgets..............................................................134 Tweaking your Vista experience.................................................136 Using Windows Update ............................................................137 Add, move, or change Windows components ...............................139 Manage applications with Task Manager .....................................142 Backwards compatibility ..........................................................144 A few more words about the Control Panel..................................145 Judgment day ........................................................................147 Just the facts ........................................................................148
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II Manage the Vista Enviroment.....................................149 5
Managing Users ....................................................................151 The case for users...................................................................152 Add an account ......................................................................154 Modify User Accounts ..............................................................159 Changing your account name ................................................162 Create a password for your account ........................................162 Changing your picture ..........................................................165 Changing the account type ...................................................166 Deleting the account ...........................................................167 Working with Parental Controls ..............................................168 Start to take control! ......................................................169 Windows Vista Web Filter .................................................171 Time limits ....................................................................172 Games ..........................................................................172 Block specific programs ...................................................173 Other Administrator options ..................................................174 Create a password reset disk ............................................174 Manage your network passwords .......................................176 Manage your file encryption certificates.............................177 Configure advanced user profile properties .........................179 Change my environment variables .....................................179 Change group membership .......................................................180 Configure fast user switching ...................................................181 Use the Run as administrator command to switch users ................182 Use Run as Administrator from the interface ............................182 Use Run as Administrator from the command line .....................183 Create custom management consoles .........................................184 Create a new console ...........................................................186 Use your console.................................................................188 Create Taskpad views...............................................................189 Create group policies...............................................................192 Determine Group Policy settings ...............................................194 Just the facts ........................................................................196
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Managing Files and Folders....................................................197 Change folder views ................................................................198 Would you like to supersize that?...........................................198 Working with Properties........................................................201 The anatomy of the folder........................................................202 Organize............................................................................204 What a pane! .....................................................................204 Views................................................................................206
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The other buttons ...............................................................206 Previous versions ................................................................206 Searches folder ...................................................................207 Windows Explorer and Vista...................................................208 Adding files and folders to the Start menu...............................208 Redirecting the Documents folder..............................................209 Create compressed files and folders ...........................................211 Turn on folder compression ...................................................212 Create compressed archives ...................................................214 Cab it! ..............................................................................215 Encrypt files and folders ..........................................................216 Advances in Vista................................................................219 Introducing Windows BitLocker™............................................219 Enable file sharing..................................................................222 Working with the Public folder ...............................................223 Which one should I use? ......................................................224 Using the Network and Sharing Center.....................................225 Other ways of sharing files....................................................228 Managing the Recycle Bin ........................................................229 A (very) few words about Indexing Service .................................230 Just the facts ........................................................................230 7
Managing Security ................................................................231 Making Windows safe ..............................................................232 Working with the Security Center ..............................................232 Easy Hacking 101: The short history of Windows security ............233 The Windows Security Center .................................................234 Checking your six ................................................................235 Windows Vista Firewall ............................................................236 Configuring Windows Firewall ................................................237 Exceptions tab ...............................................................239 Advanced tab.................................................................241 Test your firewall ................................................................243 Logging activity ..................................................................244 Working with the Advanced Firewall ........................................245 Windows Firewall properties .............................................246 Connection Security Rules................................................247 Getting ready for Windows Live OneCare .....................................248 Windows Vista Defender...........................................................249 User account protection ..........................................................252 Authentication ...................................................................253 Credentials management ......................................................253 Cryptography services...........................................................253 Using the UAC ....................................................................254
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Adding antivirus protection......................................................254 Windows Security Center and antivirus software ........................255 Updating your operating system.............................................256 Configuring Windows Update settings......................................258 Removing updates...............................................................260 Other Vista security features ....................................................261 Windows Service Hardening ...................................................261 Network Access Protection (NAP) ...........................................262 Integrated IPsec/firewall management....................................262 Analyze Windows security ........................................................262 Apply security templates .........................................................264 Install and manage digital certificates .......................................265 Using the Certificate Manager................................................266 Managing certificate properties..............................................267 Requesting a new certificate .................................................270 Renewing a certificate..........................................................271 Importing a certificate .........................................................271 Exporting a certificate..........................................................272 Change Data Execution Prevention settings ................................273 Audit computer and security events...........................................275 Determine effective group policies ............................................276 Audit access policies............................................................278 Audit file access .................................................................279 Review the Security log ........................................................280 The truth about Windows Mail ..................................................282 Secure Internet Explorer ..........................................................285 Just the facts ........................................................................285 8
Mastering Multimedia with Windows Vista..............................287 Introducing Windows Media Player 11 ........................................287 Getting started with Windows Media Player.................................289 Now playing ..........................................................................291 Manage your digital library ......................................................293 Create playlists ......................................................................295 Rip CDs .................................................................................297 Burn CDs ...............................................................................300 Sync with other devices...........................................................302 Using the Windows Media Center...............................................304 Navigate the Media Center interface .......................................305 Pictures + Videos ................................................................306 Music................................................................................307 TV + Movies .......................................................................308
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Online Media......................................................................309 Tasks ................................................................................309 Sharing media........................................................................310 Deciding who to share with...................................................311 Deciding what to share ........................................................311 Playing your content on another device or computer..................312 Using URGE ...........................................................................313 Work with cameras..................................................................315 Import photos from your digital camera ..................................315 Tag and you shall find .........................................................316 Photo Gallery .........................................................................317 Performing tasks from the Gallery toolbar ................................318 Creating a customized screen saver.........................................319 Work with scanners .................................................................320 Create DVDs with DVD Maker.....................................................321 Work with video cameras .........................................................324 Edit video using Movie Maker 6.................................................325 Before you make a movie .....................................................325 Make a movie .....................................................................326 Work with the storyboard......................................................327 Effects and transitions .........................................................329 Titles and credits ................................................................329 Publish your movie..............................................................330 Just the facts ........................................................................331
III Networking with Windows Vista .................................333 9
Networking and the Internet .................................................335 Home networking 101 .............................................................336 Getting physical .....................................................................336 Vista Network and Sharing Center..............................................338 Network ............................................................................339 Sharing and Discovery ..........................................................341 Tasks ................................................................................342 View computers and devices.............................................343 Connect to a network......................................................344 Set up a connection or network ........................................344 Add a wireless device .....................................................348 Managing network connections ..............................................349 Diagnose Internet Connection................................................351 Windows Network Diagnostics...................................................351 Configuring broadband connections...........................................352 Configuring cable or DSL connections ........................................353
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Working with wireless..............................................................354 Types of wireless protocols ....................................................355 Using wireless safely............................................................355 Setting up wireless security ..................................................357 Connecting to a wireless network ...........................................360 Configuring Internet Connection Sharing....................................362 Working with Windows Mail ......................................................364 Set up e-mail accounts.........................................................365 Securing your Windows Mail experience ...................................368 Junk E-mail ...................................................................368 Safe Senders..................................................................368 Blocked Senders .............................................................370 International .................................................................370 Phishing .......................................................................372 Encrypting messages............................................................373 Using advanced features.......................................................373 Create distribution lists ...................................................373 E-mail paranoia: Return receipts and bcc............................374 Viewing e-mail headers ...................................................375 Manage e-mail with message rules .........................................376 Set up and subscribe to newsgroups .......................................377 Using Windows Meeting Space ..................................................381 Getting Started with Windows Meeting Space............................381 Using Windows Meeting Space Safely ......................................383 Goodbye Windows Messenger, hello Live Messenger ......................383 Nice features in Windows Live Messenger .................................384 Set up the chat service.........................................................385 Chat with friends ................................................................386 The hidden gems of Windows Live Messenger ............................388 Just the facts ........................................................................389 10 Working with Windows Internet Explorer 7 .............................391 What’s new in Windows Internet Explorer 7.................................392 Enhanced security ...............................................................392 Display improvements ..........................................................393 Surfing in Protected Mode........................................................393 The Phishing Filter .................................................................395 Additional security enhancements .............................................397 ActiveX opt-in.....................................................................397 HTTPS enhancements ...........................................................397 Increased protection against spoofing.....................................398 Address bar and Status bar ...................................................399 Fixing unsafe security settings...............................................399 Tabbed browsing ....................................................................400
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Using Web feed tools ..............................................................401 RSS feeds? Web feeds? Atom? ...............................................402 Subscribing to Web feeds ......................................................402 Viewing Web feeds...............................................................402 Managing Web feeds ............................................................404 Searching in Windows Internet Explorer .....................................404 Adding new search providers .................................................404 Changing search defaults......................................................405 Just the facts ........................................................................407 11 Working with Network Services..............................................409 Share and manage printers.......................................................409 Install a printer ..................................................................410 Improving upon shared printers .............................................414 Manage print jobs...................................................................417 Advanced printer management techniques ..................................418 Controlling global settings ....................................................419 Adding printer security .........................................................420 Send and receive faxes ............................................................423 Configure the fax service ......................................................424 Send a fax .........................................................................427 Receive and review faxes ......................................................430 Create new fax cover pages ...................................................430 Install and configure a Web server ............................................432 Using Remote Desktop.............................................................437 Using Remote Assistance .........................................................440 Sync Center ...........................................................................443 Just the facts ........................................................................444 12 Integrating with Active Directory...........................................445 Set up a Windows domain ........................................................445 About Active Directory Objects .................................................446 Active Directory permissions and rights......................................447 Configure Windows Vista to join a domain ...............................449 Use the Network ID feature...................................................452 Find the name of your domain ..................................................454 Create and deploy logon scripts ................................................454 Write logon scripts ..............................................................455 Set logon scripts for a user ...................................................455 Install programs using IntelliMirror ...........................................458 Use assigned applications .....................................................459 Use published applications....................................................459 Search for users or printers ......................................................460
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Configure the Global Catalog ....................................................461 Just the facts ........................................................................462
IV Manage the Hardware Environment .............................463 13 Working with Windows Internals............................................465 Display system information ......................................................465 Work with the System Information utility ................................468 Gone, but not forgotten........................................................469 Working with Device Manager ...................................................470 Use Task Manager ...................................................................473 Work with Event Viewer ...........................................................479 Use panes effectively ...........................................................480 Introducing Views ...............................................................482 Improve your performance .......................................................486 Monitor performance............................................................486 Use the Reliability Montior....................................................492 A generally better course ......................................................493 Windows SuperFetch .......................................................493 Automatic disk defragmentation .......................................493 Windows ReadyBoost™ .........................................................494 Go to Sleep already .............................................................494 Editing the Registry ................................................................495 Configure and control services ..................................................500 Work with Task Scheduler.........................................................503 Set up a new task ...............................................................504 Create complex schedules......................................................505 Security and reliability improvements......................................506 Options .............................................................................506 Work with the command prompt................................................508 Where am I? ......................................................................509 Switches............................................................................510 A few other commands.........................................................511 ipconfig ............................................................................512 Understand Windows PowerShell ...............................................513 Just the facts ........................................................................514 14 Working with Hard Drives ......................................................515 Monitoring system performance ................................................515 Using the System Tools.........................................................516 Character Map................................................................517 Disk Cleanup..................................................................518
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Disk Defragmenter ..........................................................519 Backup Status and Configuration ......................................520 Making the case for backups.....................................................525 Using System Restore ..............................................................527 Windows Easy Transfer .........................................................529 Task Scheduler....................................................................532 Security Center ...................................................................534 System Information.............................................................534 The bottom line ..................................................................535 Creating new partitions ...........................................................536 Use the command line .........................................................538 Use the Windows interface ....................................................539 The bottom line ..................................................................540 Creating dynamic disks ............................................................540 Before you consider a dynamic disk ........................................540 Convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk ....................................541 Work with dynamic disks.......................................................542 Create a simple or spanned volume ...................................542 Extend a simple or spanned volume...................................544 Using RAID disks with Windows Vista.........................................544 Understanding disk quotas .......................................................545 Set up disk quotas ..............................................................546 Assign default quotas via the command line ............................549 Assign default quotas via the Windows interface ......................549 Work with dual monitors ..........................................................550 Configure a UPS .....................................................................551 Just the facts ........................................................................552 15 Managing Portable Computers................................................555 Goodbye hardware profiles, hello Mobility Center .........................555 Exploring power management options ........................................557 Picking the right settings ........................................................562 Understanding power states .....................................................563 Work with Tablet PCs...............................................................565 Building a better pen...........................................................565 The new and improved Input Panel.........................................566 Making writing legible..........................................................567 Understanding ClearType..........................................................568 Work with Windows SideShow ...................................................570 Setting up VPN.......................................................................571 Configure offline files..............................................................572 Just the facts ........................................................................574
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16 Troubleshooting Windows Vista .............................................575 Using the User Assistance platform............................................575 Find an answer ...................................................................577 Ask someone ......................................................................578 Information from Microsoft ...................................................579 A traditional online help system ............................................579 General Windows troubleshooting techniques..............................582 Using the Startup Repair Tool ...................................................584 Launch and use Safe Mode .......................................................586 Troubleshoot network problems.................................................587 Use ipconfig.......................................................................587 Use ping............................................................................588 Try the tracert utility ...........................................................589 Just the facts ........................................................................590
V Appendixes ..............................................................591 Appendix A: Supported Video Cards .............................................593 Appendix B: Upgrade Checklist ...................................................597 Appendix C: Differences between Windows Vista and Windows XP......599 Appendix D: Keyboard Shortcuts..................................................603 Appendix E: Online Resources .....................................................605 Index ........................................................................................607
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Introduction
I
t’s not every day that Microsoft releases a new operating system, so it’s with great pleasure that we offer you the Unofficial Guide to Windows Vista. Though it seems like this operating system would never see the light of day, it’s finally here and we think you’re going to like what you see. If you are already using Windows Vista, we hope that this book will help you navigate the ins and outs of the latest addition to the Windows family. If you’re considering buying Windows Vista, we hope that this book will make your decision easier before taking those first steps. This book is, in a way, the continuation of the Unofficial Guide to Windows XP. Not everything in Windows Vista changed, so you may notice that some sections in this book remain the same from the Windows XP version. However, any new or updated features are completely rewritten to give you the most up-to-date information possible. Microsoft received a lot of bad press in the run up to the Vista release; some of this criticism was well-deserved, while at other times it seemed to come from people who had little knowledge of what a software development cycle is like. Our goal in this book is to give you the good, the bad, and everything in between. Being neither pro-noranti-Microsoft, we like to think that we’ve praised the good things and spared no punches where Redmond got it wrong. All things considered, we believe Microsoft has put out a solid operating system that will please many users, especially technically-oriented users. Our hope is to show you perhaps a different way of doing things, or simply just a quick tip to help you become more productive.
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INTRODUCTION
We have strived to make this book as technically accurate and up-todate as possible. Every care was taken to represent the very latest information. However, it’s important to note that this book was written during the Beta 2 through RC (Release Candidate) stage of Windows Vista development. Any last minute information that is available after publishing can be found on our companion Web site at www.unofficialvista.com. One final note before we begin — keep in mind that this is version 1.0 of a major operating system. If you’ve been around software shops as long as we have, then you know that 1.0 doesn’t mean that it’s perfect. Vista still has bugs, glitches, and other annoyances. These will all be worked out over time; in the meantime, sit back and enjoy everything Vista has to offer.
Making the most of this book Every book in the Unofficial Guide series offers the following four special sidebars that are devised to help you get things done cheaply, efficiently, and smartly. 1. Hack: Tips and shortcuts that increase productivity. 2. Watch Out!: Cautions and warnings to help you avoid common pitfalls. 3. Bright Idea: Smart or innovative ways to do something; in many cases, this will be a way that you can save time or hassle. 4. Inside Scoop: Useful knowledge gleaned by the author that can help you become more efficient.
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PART I
Installation, Configuration, and Customization
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The Road to Windows Vista
A
fter several years of chatter, rumors, leaked information, and random hearsay, Windows Vista is finally here! This highly anticipated unveiling is the first major release for home users since Windows XP in 2001. It also promises to feature more of what users want and more of what they need, including enhanced security, which has never been one of Microsoft’s perceived strong points. In this chapter, we go back to school for just a bit and review our history: How did we get to Windows Vista and where is Microsoft going with it? More importantly, we help you decide for yourself whether or not now is the time for you to make the move to this long overdue operating system!
A brief history of Windows Vista Several years ago, word of the next Windows operating system tentatively entitled “Longhorn” made its way across the Internet. Amateur Web sites and bloggers all loved sharing their thoughts about how the new Windows OS would work. Fast forward to July 22, 2005, and Microsoft reveals that they are preparing a new operating system that is called Windows Vista (named, curiously, for a pub in British Columbia, Canada). However, Windows Vista was never supposed to be the topic of IT water cooler conversations or even a major release like Windows 95 or Windows XP. In fact, it was 3
Chapter 1
GET THE SCOOP ON... The history of Windows Vista ■ What’s new in Vista ■ What Microsoft did right and wrong ■ Members of the Vista family ■ Pricing Vista
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originally meant to be an intermediary release between Windows XP and Windows “Vienna” (or Blackcomb). As deadlines were missed, as often happens in the software field, Windows Vista started to implement features of Windows Vienna, and it grew into something it was never meant to be, which is a full-fledged major operating system release and not just an upgrade. Windows Vista was officially named the next release by Microsoft, while Microsoft Vienna has been relegated to a release date not worth publishing. As time went on, Vista continued to implement features intended for Vienna. However, as Microsoft tried to include as many features as possible for this release, there was some concern that reliability, simplicity, and scalability would all be sacrificed for new features. As a result, Microsoft scaled down some of their new features for the Vista release. One of the biggest casualties was the new WinFS feature. WinFS, or Windows Future Storage, is a data storage and management system that runs on a relational database (which is a database that uses a relational model and runs on RDBMS software). For more information on WinFS, check out http://msdn.microsoft.com/data/winfs/. Development of Microsoft Vista using the Windows Server 2003 code base was soon underway. After months and months of work, Vista Beta 1 (Build 5112) was released to a select group of testers including MSDN and TechNet members. Microsoft then started the CTP program (Community Technical Preview) that allows Beta testers and MSDN members to download and install builds. The CTP program is a monthly program that offers a “snapshot” of Windows Vista’s current status. In February 2006, Microsoft released the February CTP, which was the first feature-complete version of Windows Vista. Microsoft soon after released an intermediary build that took into consideration initial feedback from the February CTP. In March 2006, Microsoft announced that it would be delaying the Microsoft Windows Vista release. As you can imagine, there was a lot of speculation about the reason for the delay and rumors were rife that the product was not up to quality standards. Of course, anyone who was a Windows Vista tester knew this to be unlikely as the Beta builds were relatively stable and feature-complete. Microsoft’s decision was more likely based on a combination of marketing and quality concerns. In fact, Microsoft decided to implement a two-tier rollout plan: Those with volume licensing agreements would be able to upgrade first, and the general public would then receive Windows Vista.
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As a result of this delay, the next CTP would now be released at the end of May 2006 instead of April 2006. This is the first CTP that is considered a Beta 2 equivalent. This version is available through the Customer Preview Program, which allowed the general public to freely download the operating system and give it a try. This was a win-win situation; users who were curious to try out the software could do so without having to pay for it, and Microsoft could use their customer base to test their product for them. Microsoft continued to issue monthly CTP releases until the final release date. Post Beta 2, Microsoft released a July CTP to a select audience, and then released a Pre-RC1 (Release Candidate) at the end of August. This Pre-RC1 version was greeted very warmly by the tech community, especially from a number of industry notables who were very critical of the post Beta 2 builds. Just several days after the Pre-RC1 release, Microsoft released the RC1 build (5600), which is the version we used when writing this book. Windows Vista will be made available in November 2006, according to the current schedule, to volume licensed businesses before being released to the general public in January 2007. Throughout this period, quality control and stability of the Beta-level builds was a major concern of analysts and testers alike. Many professionals felt that the Beta-level CTPs simply were not stable enough to proceed to a final build candidate. As a result, there were a number of professionals (who really were pro-Vista) who advocated for delaying Windows Vista yet again in order to iron out all the bugs before releasing it to the public. The fact that CTP builds had varying quality (some releases were stable, while others were buggy) and consistency made gauging the true status of Vista hard to determine. Fortunately, things seemed to take a turn for the better performance-wise with the Pre-RC1 edition. Microsoft as a company also took a number of public relation hits during the summer of 2006. Ongoing litigation with the European Union saw Brussels levy a massive fine against Microsoft, which didn’t help already slipping stock prices. In July, Bill Gates announced that in 2008 he would stop his day-to-day activities at Microsoft and hand over the reins to Steve Ballmer and Ray Ozzie. Microsoft also incurred delays with the long anticipated Microsoft Office 2007 release. Finally, a top executive who was fairly visible in the public eye was released or quit under mysterious circumstances. All of these reasons, combined with the specter of yet
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another Vista delay, pointed to a general feeling of concern and negativity surrounding Microsoft and their upcoming releases.
What’s new in Windows Vista? As you can imagine, Microsoft pulled out all the stops when putting together their wish list for Windows Vista. From features to security, there’s something for everyone in the first incarnation of Windows Vista. For example, the first time we installed Windows Vista on our machines, we immediately thought of Linux and Mac OS X and how these users would appreciate the look and feel of their respective operating system. FireFox users will undoubtedly notice how Microsoft “borrowed” from the FireFox user interface in Internet Explorer 7. Users will be pleased with Microsoft’s latest offering — some new features are overhauled existing features and others are completely new! This section doesn’t mention every new feature in Windows Vista, but it gives you a good idea of what awaits you! Each feature we describe in the following paragraphs is discussed in greater detail in various parts of the book.
Working with the Vista interface Are you a home user? If so, some of the new features may impress you, while others will confuse you. For example, one of the first things you notice is that the ubiquitous Start button is now relegated to history’s trash bin. Once the lynchpin of the entire Windows user interface, it is now replaced by a Windows “orb,” for lack of a better expression. Despite the change in physical representation, this is still referred to as the Start menu. Users may also be surprised to find out what is hiding from them behind the Windows orb, as the appearance of the Start menu changes drastically in Windows Vista. These changes are covered in far greater detail in Chapter 4. Personally, our first reaction to seeing Windows Vista was “the menus are dark!” Also new is the navigation style of the Start menu; the days of this menu expanding to fill your entire screen are gone. The new Welcome Center window appears at startup (yes, you can disable it). You can find extensive system information (see Figure 1.1). The bottom portion of the Welcome Center contains extra information such
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Watch Out! Not every feature is available in every edition of Windows Vista. Rather than start every paragraph with edition information, we provide a table at the end of this chapter that features new Windows Vista features and in what editions you can find them.
as Internet shortcuts, information on Vista, setting up various Vista features, and so on. It also features some self-promotion, whereby you can access or download a number of new Windows Live services. The notification bar at the bottom-right side of the screen also appears differently than in XP. Although it has many familiar icons, it does include some new icons, including how your Internet connection appears. The dialog boxes in Vista now appear with a metallic, yet transparent, look about them. In fact, it reminds us quite a lot of Mac OS X dialog boxes and windows. It also reminds us a lot of Linux; two of Microsoft’s biggest detractors now find themselves with a competitor that really is not so different from them in a number of ways.
Figure 1.1. The Microsoft Vista desktop.
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If you are Aero-ready, you’re going to be bowled over by how cool Windows Vista looks. It’s well worth the extra hardware to check out this new desktop experience. From transparency, to interactive mouse pointers, to much improved window toggling options, Aero is a massive improvement that finally brings Microsoft into the twenty-first century. For example, in the taskbar, you can get a glimpse of what is in the application, file, or folder by placing your mouse over the taskbar icon. A realtime representation of its contents appears as a thumbnail above the taskbar. All this and more, thanks to Aero. If you aren’t Aero compatible, this feature will not work; the standard alt text appears instead. Folders and directories also have a refreshed look in Microsoft Vista (see Figure 1.2). These elements are much more icon oriented than in past versions of Windows. Although this is generally an improvement over Windows XP, adjusting to folders and directories make take some time. Folders now include powerful search features, such as preloaded saved searches for easy, on-the-fly searches with amazingly fast results. An embedded Favorites menu enables you to switch to other folders quickly. A new toolbar and navigation bar allow you to navigate with ease. Windows’ Documents, Pictures, and Music folders in Windows Explorer are also color-coded in Vista, so that you can set them apart from other folders. Strangely enough, the video folder keeps the standard yellow color. The Control Panel is also revamped in this new release. If you switch to the Classic mode, you can see exactly what we mean. (We discuss several new options later in this chapter.) The Control Panel can admittedly look a bit overwhelming at first; you may feel lost among the new icons and themes. However, as you familiarize yourself with Windows Vista, you see that everything is in its logical place. The use of links to help you find specific tasks is particularly helpful; now that we’ve been using it for a while, we find it quite helpful. Finally, Windows offers gadgets, which are customizable mini-applications that facilitate certain user tasks. The Windows sidebar organizes your gadgets into an easy-to-use tool. Microsoft has created three different types of gadgets: desktop, Web, and device. For Windows Vista, you can use desktop gadgets. Web gadgets are for use with Web sites, such as start.com, while device gadgets run on external displays. Gadgets can be used on your desktop or on the Sidebar. You can also use them in conjunction with the start.com Web site. Currently an incubation experiment (meaning that it’s not quite ready to go), this Web site lets you configure
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Inside Scoop Gadgets are designed to be used interchangeably among the environments. For example, you could use a Web gadget with the Windows Vista Sidebar.
an online version of the Sidebar using gadgets. Start.com, while a pretty neat idea, isn’t the most visibly attractive site on the Internet. In fact, its rather bare-bones look might turn off a few users. Nevertheless, it’s another option on the table if you want to use gadgets. These gadgets, which we discuss in greater detail in Chapter 4, can be created either in DHTML (Dynamic Hypertext Markup Language) or a .NET language (for example, C# or VB.NET).
Figure 1.2. The Documents folder in Microsoft Vista.
Control Panel As mentioned earlier in this chapter, the content and the look and feel of the Control Panel have changed extensively in Windows Vista (see Figure 1.3). The Vista Control Panel now integrates the Windows Explorer
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framework. Although you can still choose either the new or the Classic Control Panel mode (à la XP), it has a new color scheme and number of new system icons. This makes configuring your computer even easier. If you open one of these menus/icons, you find a whole series of subjectrelated (category-based) settings that you can choose from. These settings are detailed in descriptive terminology that makes it easier for users to understand exactly what they’re getting into. Additional options appear on the left side of these windows that allow you to select from other related settings and services.
Figure 1.3. The Control Panel is bigger and better in Windows Vista.
Searches Windows Vista has added two new controls to its search feature: Instant Search and Enhanced Column Headers. The Instant Search feature is found in the Start menu (as detailed in the next paragraph), while the Enhanced Column Headers facilitates how data is displayed. These features are detailed in Chapter 4.
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Inside Scoop Using the Instant Search, not only can you find Start menu applications by typing the first letters, you can also find hidden files as well as system files. This is helpful, for example, when calling the Microsoft Management Console.
When you click the Windows orb, you can see the Instant Search box at the bottom of the menu. You can insert just about anything, including a part of a filename or a property, and click the Search icon. To make things easier, you can even add keywords to file properties for future recall. In many ways, the Instant Search box makes up for the now defunct Run features. We’ve also seen this feature referred to as the Live Search. You can also use this search in the Control Panel to quickly locate what you’re looking for. Windows Vista also features a new tool called Search Folders. The name is a little confusing because you don’t use this feature to search file folders; you use it to save search criteria for later use. Using the Search Folders tool, you can go back and perform another search using previously defined criteria. Windows Vista features a number of preloaded “saved” searches. By clicking them, you receive virtually instantaneous results.
XPS support Microsoft created its response to Adobe’s PDF standard; XPS (XML Paper Specification) is a static document format that can be used in Windows Vista. In Vista and its applications, you can print to the Microsoft XPS Document Writer, which appears by default in Vista Print windows. The need for XPS is debatable. Microsoft had planned on creating a PDF filter in Microsoft Office, which would have let users save Word documents as a PDF directly from the Save window. Unfortunately, due to legal reasons, this feature was removed and Microsoft XPS becomes Microsoft’s de facto cross-platform document reader and writer.
Live Icons Remember the bland, ugly icons of Windows past? Vista now offers Live Icons (provided you have the right graphics hardware). These icons still
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represent files and their type; however, unlike the standard icon, these icons literally display a true view of the actual file. If you have a Word file icon, you can see text of the first available file. If it’s a graphic, a thumbnail of the graphic appears in the folder icon (see Figure 1.4).
Figure 1.4. Live icons make folder browsing a little less boring.
Borders In past versions, moving and resizing windows was difficult because of how svelte windows and dialog box borders are. Borders and headers of windows and dialog boxes in Aero are now wider so that you can move folders with ease. This feature change isn’t as readily apparent in the Vista Basic environment.
Performance The folks in Redmond clearly did their homework when it came to redefining performance. And this is why we applaud Microsoft for righting some past wrongs. On the other hand, it’s clear that innovation suffered
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at times due to focus on performance and security updates. So, what’s new in terms of performance enhancements? First and foremost, installation is considerably faster than previous versions of Windows. Startup time is also considerably faster. For example, we’ve noticed that it often takes two to three minutes for Windows XP to load everything and become functional. With Windows Vista, it took approximately 40 seconds from startup to being fully operational. Another performance enhancement is the new Sleep feature. Sleep is a state somewhere in between Standby and Hibernate. Sleep can “wake up” as quickly as a computer set in Standby, but it also better protects data and consumes less battery power as if it were in Hibernate. How sleep works depends on your computer; if it is a desktop, the computer saves any open files or applications to both RAM and to the hard drive. On a laptop, it saves this information to RAM and then transfers it to the hard drive when battery power starts to wane. The new SuperFetch feature tells Windows Vista to notice which applications you use the most and to store them into memory. As a result, recall is considerably faster. This is a marked improvement over previous behavior; for example, once you boot your computer, launching an often-used application could take a while or it might crash. The SuperFetch feature stores this application into memory so that it can launch the application at startup or post-crash quickly. In Windows XP, launching an application can be a tediously slow experience. There are also EMD (external memory device) technology and hybrid hard drives to consider. When running Windows Vista, you can increase memory capacity by adding a USB flash drive as an EMD. Hybrid hard drives are also new and compatible with Windows Vista. They contain an on-board flash memory buffer. Windows Vista uses this drive for major tasks, such as startup, hibernate, and faster reboots. These will eventually be a “strongly recommended” or even required piece of hardware of mobile users. We say eventually because hybrid Watch Out! If you add a USB flash drive as an EMD, keep in mind that the increased capabilities are only available so long as the USB drive is still plugged in. Once you remove it, the computer goes back to its original configuration.
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drives are not intended to hit stores in the United States until June 2007 (date subject to change). As far as we know, these drives are only available for laptops.
Sidebar and gadgets As discussed in the previous section and earlier in this chapter, the Windows Vista Sidebar and gadgets are a very important part of this release. The Windows Sidebar gives you direct access to your gadgets, thereby saving you time and finger energy and increasing productivity. The Windows Sidebar sits on your desktop much like the Office Sidebar, where you can put often-used gadgets “in” it and easily call them back when necessary (see Figure 1.5). It works well with standard monitors and is ideal for widescreen monitors. The gadgets, or mini-applications, are small, yet helpful applications that easily integrate into your Windows Vista experience. Though Windows ships with several gadgets on board; you can also download some over the Internet. They can be used with your desktop or used when using such Microsoft Web sites as Live.com.
Figure 1.5. The Windows Sidebar.
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Ease of Access Center Microsoft has improved its accessibility options through the creation of the Ease of Access Center. It allows you to set up accessibility tools from a single location, making Windows available for everyone. You can access it from the Control Panel or even enable accessibility features from the logon screen. One intriguing new feature is the speech recognition feature, which lets you teach your computer to recognize your voice so that you can control your computer vocally instead of using your mouse and keyboard.
Introducing Internet Explorer 7 Undoubtedly one of the most noticeable new features in Microsoft Windows Vista is the long-anticipated Internet Explorer 7. Even if you have not yet installed Windows Vista, you can get a taste of Microsoft’s follow-up to IE 6 because it is also available for Windows XP. From the moment you launch the application, it’s hard to miss several new features from the very minute you launch the browser. For example, you can now search multiple search engines from the user interface (see Figure 1.6). In the options menu adjacent to the search box, you can easily select a new default search provider from a pretty extensive list. In fact, you can even take care of shopping from this menu by selecting one of many online boutiques. This list of search providers and boutiques includes such heavyweights as Yahoo!, AOL, Google, Amazon, MSN, Lycos, Target, and even the Weather Channel! In what we interpret to be a nod to Firefox, Internet Explorer 7 also features tabs. Instead of having to open up a new browser window, you can simply open up a new tab and work within the same window (see Figure 1.7). Unlike its competitor, you can also right-click the tab and perform basic tasks (close one or more tabs, refresh a tab, or create a new tab). Internet Explorer 7 also makes cleaning up easier. A one-button cleanup feature clears passwords, temporary files, and caches. This new feature lets you clear pretty much anything quickly, which is a change from past versions. You can also subscribe to RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds directly from Internet Explorer 7. This feature is useful for frequent blog readers who do not have enough time to read blog updates — RSS brings the updates to you.
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Figure 1.6. The Internet Explorer 7 search provider list.
Figure 1.7. The Internet Explorer 7 interface with multiple tabs open.
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Bright Idea For more information on phishing, check out the Wikipedia entry at http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing or visit the Anti-Phishing Working Group at www.antiphishing.org/.
Another great feature is the new anti-phishing feature that protects users from sites that might be phishing sites. Phishing is an attempt to commit fraud over e-mail. A user is asked to click on a link purporting to be a legitimate site, but really the site is bogus and is designed to solicit and store personal details that can then be used for nefarious reasons.
Improved security Microsoft Windows Vista offers a number of new security features that are sure to please users. For example, Windows integrated their Windows AntiSpyware application — now called Microsoft Defender — into Windows Vista. Defender scans and protects your computer from dangerous spyware and other harmful applications that can infiltrate your computer. The User Account Control is another improved feature in Windows Vista that is designed to protect you and your family while online by using the Parental Controls (see Figure 1.8). Parents can use this feature to prevent their children from accessing certain applications or accessing inappropriate Web sites. You can create limited accounts for children, for example, that prevent them from installing new software. The improved firewall that ships with Windows Vista is now a bi-directional firewall. In other words, the firewall scans both incoming and outgoing data flow. This is an improvement over the Windows XP firewall, which only monitored incoming data. It also remedies a major concern with respect to Microsoft and safety. Currently, most firewalls available on the market offer bi-directional protection. Even Microsoft detractors will laud this major security improvement. Windows BitLocker™ is another new Vista feature that helps you increase system security. When activated, it encrypts your entire hard drive. By using a special key that you generate (and save to an external media device, such as a flash drive), you can “unlock” your computer. This feature is particularly helpful if your computer is lost or stolen.
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Figure 1.8. The User Account Parental Controls.
Creating backups Windows Vista has improved backup capabilities that make backing up data safer and easier. There are now several levels of backup as well as protection from hardware failure. Two new backup features include Windows Backup and the Volume Shadow Copy that up until now was only available in versions of Windows Server. The Windows Backup feature now features a new wizard that you can use to schedule backups. Because most of us tend to forget about backing up our machine due to life’s daily activities and stresses, you can simply program when Windows should automatically back up your files. The Volume Shadow Copy, on the other hand, is a new backup feature that lets you save files at a specific point in time so that you can easily recall them in the event of file corruption or deleted file. Vista also suggests that you perform a backup the first time you launch Vista after installation; this is available from the notification area. Windows Vista also features an improvement to the application called System Restore (see Figure 1.9). Unlike in Windows XP, you can now
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create a Shadow Copy (see Figure 1.9), which is a backup copy of a file or folder taken like a snapshot at a particular point in time. This way, you can call back a restore point from a specific time.
Figure 1.9. The Backup feature in Windows Vista.
Synching data The new Data Sync feature is designed to let users synchronize data between multiple computers, between a computer and a server, and between your computer and handheld devices. While this will facilitate your life by making sure your PDA and laptop have the same information, it is important to note that Windows Vista does not integrate any third-party sync tools. For example, if you wish to sync your Palm Pilot, you will need to make sure you have the proper software from the manufacturer so that you can sync it with Windows Vista.
Speech recognition As mentioned earlier in the Ease of Access section, Windows Vista now makes it possible to use speech recognition software to work with your computer using your voice. Using commonly used applications, you can dictate documents or e-mails or even fill out forms. Speech recognition is part of the Section 508 legislation in the United States that required
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software to be readable (in other words, compatible with several reader standards) for speech recognition software.
Windows SideShow Windows SideShow (see Figure 1.10), not to be confused with SlideShow, is a new technology designed for laptops that allows users to store important information, such as contacts or e-mails. You can even listen to your favorite tunes using the Windows Media Player through SideShow. This information can then be displayed using a secondary (built-in) display without having to power up your computer. This is a feature for mobile computers only; however, most laptops currently available in retail stores do not have this secondary display. This display is usually no more than several inches by several inches in size.
Figure 1.10. The Microsoft Windows SideShow is set through the Control Panel.
Windows multimedia Windows Vista features new multimedia features and updates. What was formerly called Windows Movie Maker is now the Windows DVD Maker.
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Depending on your edition of Vista, you can watch or record live television. Windows Media Player 11 also ships with Windows Vista releases (unless you reside within the European Union).
Windows Update Okay, this feature is not new but rather an improvement over the version in Windows XP. The Windows Update feature now is certainly more lowkey; for example, you can tell it to automatically update you computer without the intrusive dialog boxes that appear in Windows XP. You can perform Windows Update (see Figure 1.11) either running as a background application or as a primary application before installing your updates. Critics maintain that Windows uses an archaic Web-based updater; however, we dispute such a notion. Unlike Windows XP, which required Internet Explorer to download updates, Windows Vista lets you do everything from a window without having to use your browser. This overview highlights some of the new features that await you in Microsoft Windows Vista. These features, as well as others, are detailed in their respective sections throughout this book.
Figure 1.11. The Windows Update feature keeps your system up to speed.
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Other applications Windows Vista features some new goodies, most of which are detailed later in this book. For those who are tired of the same old toys, Vista has included some new games in its repertoire. The Outlook Express mail client is now replaced by Microsoft Mail, which is really the same product with a new name although it does feature some new, albeit very necessary, security tools. Windows Meeting Space is a new online collaboration tool that enables you to work remotely and share files with other users. It also features several other low-level applications, like Calendar and Contacts, whose functions are fairly obvious. These are basically freebie apps that don’t add much value to Vista since they are often replaced with more powerful applications, for example, Microsoft Office. Windows Vista also features a Media Center (Ultimate edition) that lets you access pretty much every source of existing multimedia, if you have the hardware to do it. In other media news, Vista now has a Microsoft venture called URGE (see Figure 1.12), which is akin to Apple’s iTunes. Finally, Microsoft continues Marketplace, which is a Microsoft portal that allows you to buy Vista-ready equipment from third-party vendors.
Figure 1.12. URGE, Microsoft’s foray into digital music sales.
The many editions of Windows Vista Not surprisingly, Windows Vista is available in a number of different versions that are really focused on a specific type of user. In fact, six different
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Watch Out! Do not attempt to run 64-bit Windows on a 32-bit computer; it will not work. If you are not sure if your computer is 32-bit or 64-bit, it’s a safe bet that you are running a 32-bit computer.
editions are available, all of which come in 32- and 64-bit formats (with the exception of the Windows Vista Starter, which we discuss later in the chapter). The new editions are Windows Vista Starter, Windows Vista Home Basic, Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Enterprise, and Windows Vista Ultimate. What? Well, you certainly can’t say that Microsoft didn’t leave you any choice when it comes to picking your Vista (and if you think this list is impressive, wait until you see the list of Office 2007 editions!). But, which one is right for you? Picking the right version will not be a difficult choice, simply because as a consumer you only really have three options: Home Basic, Home Premium, and Ultimate. Deciding on which of the three to go for is easy; simply ask yourself a few questions, such as “Is multimedia important to me?”, “Will I need to create a small office network at home?”, “How old is my PC?”, or “Do I really just need an OS to run my computer?” Let’s take a closer look at each version and find the right Vista for you.
Windows Vista Starter The Starter edition is, if you are reading this book, an edition you will most likely never, ever see. In an effort to combat the spread of pirated and counterfeit software, Microsoft created the Starter edition that is only available in countries that have “emerging market” status. The Starter edition is severely limited in terms of functionality; in fact, you can only open up to three windows at a time. This is also the only Windows Vista edition that does not have a 64-bit version; it can only be used in 32-bit. Quite frankly, this version is a bare-bones version of Windows Vista and would not do heavy-duty users much good. One can surmise that the idea behind the Starter edition is to try and prevent software piracy. Unfortunately, software piracy will probably never go away; however, by releasing Starter editions, software companies might be taking a big step toward reducing piracy since this version is
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slated to be considerably cheaper than other versions of Windows Vista. Of course, once software pirates see what the Starter edition is missing, they will most likely be back to old tricks with any of the following editions!
Windows Vista Home Basic The Home Basic edition is the equivalent of the Windows XP Home edition. This edition is probably the best, or most practical, edition for your typical home user. The Home Basic edition is a no-frills operating system that has a nice balance of features and security that are more than suitable for most home users. The Basic edition, like all Vista editions, includes most of the new features that are now available in Vista. However, there is one notable exception, the Aero Glass theme that you will read about in Chapter 4 is not available in Home Basic, but there is an Aero interface, albeit one that is not transparent.
Windows Vista Home Premium If you have to think of an XP equivalent for Home Premium, I guess you could say that it’s like a little bit of Home Basic and a whole lot of Windows XP Media Center Edition. Home Premium has all the features found in Basic, but it also features new multimedia features, such as HDTM support and DVD authoring. It also features the Aero Glass theme that Basic does not offer. Home Premium also features all of the Media Center Edition features, in addition to the two listed above. If you are lucky enough to find someplace with an Xbox 360 in stock, you can also connect Home Premium to the console for use in multiple rooms.
Windows Vista Business The first in the line of “big boys,” Windows Vista Business is the modernday equivalent of XP Professional. If you used Windows XP Professional, Windows Vista Business is the most similar edition. Business edition prides itself on being ideal for all size deployments, but the justification for such a statement is not quite clear. It looks like Professional has been rebranded as Business in order to put more emphasis on how Windows can improve your business acumen (a debatable point) as well as offer more professional-level system tools — such as
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spyware blockers, new backup technologies, and the new Small Business Resources. Curiously, the one missing feature here is still the elephant in the room — where is the on-board antivirus software? This is the first Vista edition to offer Windows Server domain support and a new version of IIS (Internet Information Services), neither of which are available with the Home versions. It also features improved organizational features so that you can better run your business.
Windows Vista Enterprise The Vista Enterprise edition is the older cousin to the Business edition. As far as your average user is concerned, they will not ever have access to the Enterprise edition. In other words, if you buy your operating systems, you will not be using the Enterprise edition. The Enterprise edition is not available for retail purchase, nor is it available as an OEM (meaning that computers shipped with Microsoft Windows operating systems will not have this version). However, if you work for a large company or one that uses a significant number of Windows licenses, it is possible that you may use this edition of Microsoft Vista. If this is you, then this is what you need to know about Vista Enterprise: It features a multilingual user interface and is bundled with Virtual PC as well as a new drive encryption feature. If you work in a multilingual or international environment, you can use the Enterprise edition to change the language or dialog boxes and menus on the fly. Using the Virtual PC feature, you can emulate a “foreign” operating system in order to run applications. Finally, the Windows BitLockerTM Drive Encryption helps protect data in case your computer (especially laptops) is lost or stolen. Curiously, this new data protection feature is not available in Vista Business. If you want it, you’ll need to pony up the dough and buy the Windows Vista Ultimate edition.
Windows Vista Ultimate The Vista Ultimate edition is the total package for the home user that needs that extra bit of power. We preface this section by saying that if you do not have a powerful, souped-up PC, then this edition is not for you. A true multimedia powerhouse, this edition is really suited to gamers or PC home-theater fans.
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Watch Out! Microsoft Windows Vista is shipping on a DVD, as it is easier than CD-ROM due to data size limitations. While the media may look the same, you must have a DVD-ROM player on your computer in order to install Windows Vista. If you are using a simple CD-ROM drive, the CD cannot be read. If you have an older machine, please refer to your computer documentation to verify the capacity of your ROM drive.
Ultimate edition mixes the best of both Home Premium and Business features and adds a few more toys: a new DVD-ripping feature, a tool that tweaks game performance, and podcasting support. Microsoft does not use the term podcasting, however — it has been reborn as blogcasting.
How it will ship Microsoft is shipping the three retail versions (Home Basic, Home Premium, and Ultimate) on a single DVD. If you do not have a DVD-ROM drive, we believe that Vista will also be made available on a multiple-CD set, though it is worth noting that every pre-sale source lists only DVD versions of Windows Vista. If you are planning on using Premium or Ultimate, you can enter an unlock code through the Control Panel.
Should I make the jump to Windows Vista? This is basically a rhetorical question; here’s another. Can you really afford not to make the jump? Bad questioning aside, both of these questions can be answered with a short answer: Yes. All things considered, the learning curve for Windows XP users making the upgrade to Windows Vista is not significant if switching between equivalents. Windows XP Home users upgrading to Windows Vista Home Basic should not have much trouble getting used to the new features and layout. Former XP Home users looking to upgrade to Windows Vista Ultimate may have a steeper learning curve as there are more technologically “heavy” features in this edition of Vista. The primary changes for most users to adapt to are simply the change in the Start menus and how things are displayed. You may have noticed that within the past year, more and more software applications required at least the use of Microsoft Windows XP SP2. As Windows Vista becomes more and more mainstream (read: as more and more people are comfortable with installing or upgrading to a new
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Watch Out! Some people, especially businesses that must upgrade a number of computers in order to run Microsoft Vista, are hesitant to install the first release of an operating system. Given the important role an OS plays in the operation of a computer, Microsoft surely recognizes this and would probably not release a product that is not ready to see the light of day. If you have doubts, you can always wait until a subsequent release, such as Service Pack 1, to make the jump.
operating system), more and more applications will be available that are built on Vista technology. For example, you could run Microsoft Office 2007 on Windows XP SP 2, but why? The software was designed to use Vista’s display and search features. Most peripheral developers now have Vista-compatible drivers available for their products. Fortunately, Windows Vista does a pretty good job of installing those drivers during Vista installation. Eventually, there will come a point in time where you will have to make the jump or switch to another operating system. Even the most loyal fans of Windows 3.11 and Windows 95 saw the writing on the wall and switched when it was time. Ultimately, we feel that most users will be happy with Windows Vista and the new features and security that it provides. If you don’t believe me, the next 600 or so pages are here to convince you.
What Microsoft did right Microsoft definitely pulled out all the stops when it came to designing and releasing Windows Vista. From the beta, Microsoft did an overall good job in communicating with partners and releasing remarkably stable beta builds for review and testing. We also appreciate how Microsoft maintained transparency throughout the early stages of Microsoft Vista development. One of the first things Microsoft did right is Internet Explorer 7. This new and very improved Web browser clearly intended to fix previous wrongs by putting more emphasis on security and personal protection. This includes the new anti-phishing tool that helps crack down on phishing sites. One of the biggest compliments that we can give Internet Explorer 7 is that it looks like its developers were greatly inspired by its free competitor, FireFox. Similar features include the use of tabs to a one-stop
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cache/history clearing button, not to mention search engines available from the application interface. For a brief period of time, IE7 launched with two open tabs — your home page (www.msn.com by default) and the Windows Live Web site. Fortunately, this was quickly corrected so that only the home page appeared. Overall, you may personally prefer another browser; it’s hard to argue that IE7 isn’t an improvement over IE6. Another reason to celebrate Microsoft Vista is the new anti-spyware application called Microsoft Defender. Finally catching up and responding to one of the biggest security threats to home users in recent years, Microsoft finally released an “in house” application that checks for and removes dangerous spyware from your machine. If you are unfamiliar with spyware and its risks, it is software that can display pop-ups (advertisements) or track user actions and collect personal data or modify personalized settings in Windows. Defender is designed to sit in the background and monitor your computer in real-time; should Spyware or any other malicious software cause a security breech, Defender asks you to take action. You can also program Defender to scan your computer at your leisure. You can manually update the latest spyware definitions from the application interface or set the application to download updates as they become available. Yes, Microsoft already has an existing anti-spyware application called Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware, but this application never left beta status and was never integrated with a Microsoft Windows release. Defender is the next version of Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware and is integrated with Microsoft Vista. The improved firewall is another positive security enhancement as it offers bidirectional support — it monitors both inbound and outbound data. Surprisingly, it has taken Microsoft a longer time that I would have hoped to offer this rather basic firewall feature, but it’s better late than never! The disk encryption feature (BitLockerTM Drive Encryption) is a nod to PGP, which has offered such protection for years, but it is also a welcome addition to the Windows Vista family, if you buy the right edition. Microsoft has also improved its search functions by including a new desktop search feature. This new search function is lightning fast compared to the Windows XP search function. If you are connected to a Microsoft Vista network, you can also expand the search to include computers on the Vista network.
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Aero is also a really cool feature or environment; however, it’s value depends on how much you use your computer or are willing to spend on it. Its enhanced visualizations make the long hours we log on our computers worth the extra hardware. Finally, Windows greatly improves the installation process. What used to take well over an hour depending on how powerful your computer is now takes approximately 35 minutes to install and minutes to set up once installed. Microsoft spent a lot of time playing catch-up with the Windows Vista release. Where innovation may not be the number one priority in this release, it definitely corrects a fair amount of past wrongs, which shows that Microsoft has its head pointing in the right direction.
What Microsoft got wrong Microsoft is not totally out of the dog house, despite the many stellar qualities of this Vista release. For example, despite the focused look on improved security, Microsoft has never put out one of the most glaringly missing tools: an antivirus software application. Although it may seem that the market may be fairly covered, this has not stopped Microsoft from putting out competitive software in the past. Although you can always sign up for Windows OneCare (a pay subscription service that offers antivirus protection, firewall, and so on), it would have been nice to see it in Microsoft Vista. This is especially true because Windows OneCare is currently only available for Windows XP, though there is currently a Beta version now available for Windows Vista. While Microsoft is commended in the previous section for correcting previous wrongs or oversights, it is still a shame that there was not room left over for more innovative features. For example, one particularly exciting feature, the WinFS file server, which was originally slated to be part of Microsoft Vista, has been shelved for this release. The biggest negative surrounding Windows Vista is without a doubt Microsoft’s inability to manage PR and communications involving the operating system. Unfortunately, Microsoft always seemed to be reacting to a problem — be it personnel, development, or marketing — instead of getting in front of the problem. As a result, there was quite a bit of concern as to the health of the company on numerous occasions throughout 2005 and 2006. Microsoft’s ongoing litigation in Europe and rumblings
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in Asia didn’t help the company’s image as they worked to get Vista out the door. The head of Microsoft’s operating systems group left just prior to the RC1 release; which didn’t seem to affect dates, but neither did it add to perceived company stability. Another concern is potential computer limitations. For example, one of the authors of this book is running 768MB of RAM with a Pentium 4 processor, and the memory seems barely sufficient. We would not recommend running Microsoft Vista without at least 1GB of RAM on board, despite Microsoft’s insistence that 512MB is adequate. Most new computers are currently shipping with at least 512MB of RAM on board, but the minimum is rarely enough to get by let alone take full advantage of resources. If you are lacking in memory, you can go to a more Classic look under Vista to free up system resources, but you want nice and pretty like everyone else, and not to have to pay money for the same old looking Windows, right? This is a legitimate problem because Windows Vista will make a significant number of computers obsolete. Why? Well, the memory might not be so much a problem as other pieces of hardware, such as video cards. For example, your computer needs to support the Windows Vista Display Driver Model if you want to enjoy the new Aero theme. In terms of graphics, unless your graphics processor supports DirectX9-level shaders, you cannot take advantage of the 3D accelerated elements. Older graphics cards do not support this, nor do a lot of modern laptops. If you do decide to upgrade your graphics card, you need to re-look your entire computer. If you are using an older or low-end computer, you might not have an AGP or PCI-Express slot (the equivalent of a souped-up PCI slot on your motherboard that is designed for highquality graphics cards). You may also need to buy a power supply to handle the video card requirements. So, yeah, many new or recent computers will be able to run Windows Vista, but you do run a significant risk of feature loss. This is particularly a problem in countries outside the United States where hardware or new computers are considerably more expensive, especially due to high local taxes. Microsoft’s proposed workaround to the above problems is to simply buy a new Windows Vista-ready computer to replace your old one. Are people ready to spend a lot of money on a new or revamped computer now, especially when Windows XP is a tried and true operating system
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that has worked fine over the past few years? Are local economies conducive to consumers’ spending on new computers and parts? Two other issues have caused alarm among users, but these are not universally shared concerns. The first is the price: There have been a number of rumblings online and at the water cooler about the pricing scheme. Speaking to the communication problems we mentioned earlier in this section, the Windows Vista pricing information “leaked” to Canadian press and then appeared on the Amazon.com Web site. This pricing information is given in the following section. Given the cost of buying some of the on-board features, such as PGP to replace the disk encryption or third-party DVD ripping software, prices seem to be relatively fair, though certainly not cheap. The second issue is the increased integration of DRM (Digital Rights Management), which involves the protection of audio and video copyrights. This issue is discussed in greater detail in the Windows Media section.
Other members of the Vista family There is more to the Windows Vista family than meets the eye or is covered in this chapter. In fact, Vista rears its head in a number of different fashions. Not all versions are available for all users and not all versions will necessarily be available at the time of the general release currently planned for January 2007.
Microsoft Windows Vista 64-bit With the exception of the Starter edition, Windows Vista is available in 64-bit for all other editions. Essentially a recompiled version of the standard 32-bit Vista, this edition provides increased performance and reliability while running natively with a 64-bit processor. This version is probably not necessary for most home users, but rather developers and other information technology professionals. You can also expect that, for this reason, it will probably be considerably more expensive than the standard 32-bit versions.
Microsoft Windows Vista N Microsoft also has several versions of Vista N, which is a marketing way of saying “for the European market.” After a number of years of legal wrangling during the Windows XP days, Microsoft agreed to release a special
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version of the Windows operating system in the European Union without the Windows Media Player. Of course, there is no price reduction for this Media Player–less Windows. Please note that this version is not available outside of the European Union. At the time of writing, there were some renewed concerns in the EU about Microsoft’s dominance and how the court’s judgments’ were being applied. At the moment, no other changes have been made to the N version. Perhaps not ironically, no major retailers shipped units with Windows XP N on board and sales were dismal. Windows Vista N is likely to have the same result; it exists to satisfy a court requirement.
Windows Vista Tablet PC edition Are Tablet PCs the Next Big Thing? Some people think so, and several vendors have developed specialized hardware that acts like an electronic version of a notebook. The Tablet PC edition of Windows Vista is still in the works from what we have understood, but Microsoft is remaining quiet about it. What we do know is that most Vista editions are compatible with Tablet PC. Tablet PC features are currently available in every edition, except Start and Home Basic. We have read of successful installations and uses of the various CTP releases on Tablet PC. However, at this point in time, no release date has been made public for a Tablet PC–specific release. In the interim, use one of the Windows Vista editions supporting the use of Tablet PC.
Choosing the right edition Table 1.1 contains a non-exhaustive list of various features in Windows Vista and in what edition(s) you can find them. Please note that we didn’t include Windows Vista Home N and Windows Vista Business N in this table. These editions, available only in Europe, are the same as their standard counterparts, with the exception of the missing Windows Media Player 11 application. European users wishing to use this application will have to download it directly from the Microsoft Web site. The Starter edition is also excluded from this list; most readers enjoying this book will not have access to it. For a complete list of features by edition, you should check out the Windows Vista Product Guide. This list is currently available for Beta 2 at www.microsoft.com/downloads/ details.aspx?FamilyID=bbc16ebf-4823-4a12-afe1-5b40b2ad 3725&DisplayLang=en.
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Table 1.1. Features in editions Feature
Home Basic
Home Premium Business Enterprise Ultimate
User Account Control
*
*
*
*
*
Windows Security Center
*
*
*
*
*
Windows Defender
*
*
*
*
*
Windows Firewall
*
*
*
*
*
Parental Controls
*
*
Windows ReadyDrive
*
*
*
*
*
Service Hardening
*
*
*
*
*
Windows ShadowCopy
*
*
*
Encrypting File System
*
*
*
Virtual PC Express
*
*
Windows BitLocker
*
*
Windows Anytime Upgrade
*
Aero interface
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Instant Search
*
*
*
*
*
Windows SuperFetch
*
*
*
*
*
Windows ReadyBoost
*
*
*
*
*
Windows Media Player 11
*
*
*
*
*
Windows Movie Maker
*
*
*
*
*
Windows DVD Maker
*
Premium games
*
Windows Fax and Scan
* *
*
*
*
*
*
Tablet PC
*
*
*
*
Windows SideShow
*
*
*
*
PC to PC Sync
*
*
*
* continued
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Table 1.1. continued Feature Remote Desktop
Home Basic
Home Premium Business Enterprise Ultimate
Client only Client only
*
*
*
Offline files and folders
*
*
*
Roaming user profiles
*
*
*
Internet Information Server (IIS)
*
*
*
Windows Media Center
*
*
Speech Recognition
*
*
*
*
*
XPS Document support
*
*
*
*
*
Network diagnostics
*
*
*
*
*
Windows Mail
*
*
*
*
*
Windows Calendar
*
*
*
*
*
Themed slide shows
*
*
Internet Explorer 7
*
*
*
*
*
Accessibility settings
*
*
*
*
*
Dual processors
*
*
*
*
*
Xbox 360 support
*
Scheduled file backup
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Windows Vista Basic interface
*
*
Pricing Windows Vista The Windows Vista pricing scheme has the potential to be confusing. Although the prices are pretty straightforward, it is easy to see how users can be confused when buying supplemental licenses and have to pick the type of additional license. Each license grants the use for a single computer; you can also buy additional licenses for a slightly discounted price.
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When we say slightly, we mean slightly! The additional license is approximately $20 to $40 less than an upgrade license. It is our understanding that one license is for a single computer and not up to three computers, which is often the case with software. Table 1.2. lists the suggested retail prices; they are what you will most likely pay at major retail stores. Of course, if you are buying a new computer with Windows Vista installed, the price of the operating system is included in the cost of the computer. We suspect that most users will be able to take advantage of some sort of upgrade; we discuss upgrade compatibility in Chapter 2.
Table 1.2. Pricing editions Additional license
Additional upgrade license
Edition
Full version
Upgrade price
Windows Vista Home Basic
$199.00
$99.95
$179.00
$89.95
Windows Vista Home Premium
$239.00
$159.00
$215.00
$143.00
Windows Vista Business
$299.00
$199.00
$269.00
$179.00
Windows Vista Ultimate
$399.00
$259.00
$359.00
$233.00
If you do buy Windows Vista from a retail outlet, be sure to verify that exactly what you are buying corresponds to your needs. We advise you to ■
Determine what edition of Windows Vista you need.
■
Verify upgrade compatibility and determine if you need a full release or an upgrade.
■
If you need an additional license, verify, based on the previous step, if you need an additional full installation or upgrade license.
Just the facts ■
Windows Vista is Microsoft’s latest operating system, due in late 2006 or early 2007. It features five different editions.
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■
Windows Vista features a number of new features, including the Aero environment.
■
The Start menu is dramatically different in Windows Vista.
■
There are a number of different Windows Vista versions beyond the usual standard edition; these include Windows Vista N and 64-bit versions.
■
Some features are only available in certain editions; consult the table in this chapter or the Microsoft Web site to make sure that you by the right edition if you need a particular feature.
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H
ere’s a piece of good news for you, Windows users. Even though Vista is packed with new features, there’s one thing that becomes shorter and easier: Windows installation. The bad news is that your computer may be obsolete. The good news, on the other hand, is that if your computer is compatible for running (and taking advantage of) Windows Vista, you can most likely install Vista in approximately 35 minutes (originally, Microsoft was shooting for 15–20 minutes). The installation time has decreased with each CTP release; it is currently approximately 20 minutes or so. In fact, you’ll find that you spend more time making sure that your computer is Vista compatible than you do actually installing it! Fortunately, installing the Windows operating system has become a relatively straightforward process that is fairly easy to complete without having to break anything. Although it’s not as easy as clicking Setup and sitting back, it’s not far from being that.
Installation options Windows Vista can be installed several different ways, depending on your current configuration. As Windows Vista grows older and starts putting out Service Packs, the list of available installation options will evolve.
37
Chapter 2
GET THE SCOOP ON... Installation options ■ Buying a new computer ■ Using existing computers or hardware ■ Collecting information ■ Transferring and restoring files ■ Activating Windows
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Custom installation A custom installation is a completely bare-bones installation of Windows Vista onto a blank hard drive. Don’t be misled by the name, it’s really just a standard installation. The custom installation performs a clean installation, meaning that it writes over everything. With a custom installation (see Figure 2.1), you decide where to install the operating system or where to make changes to your drives or partitions.
Figure 2.1. The Windows Vista Installation Screen.
If you opt to perform a custom installation, the state of your current data and hard drive is up for discussion. In theory, Windows backs up your existing version of Windows in another folder; this includes your User profiles and their respective folders. What it all comes down to is this: Back up everything of value before you attempt a Windows Vista installation. Keep in mind that you most likely must re-install any applications, so make sure your installation software is handy before installing Vista! Even though a backup is created, you should act as if you are starting over and won’t have this backup from which to extract your personal files. One of the nice features now available in Windows Vista is the fast setup technology that enables you to install Windows Vista within 35 minutes — with only a single reboot and very little work on the part of the user.
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Watch Out! We cannot stress the importance of performing a backup and testing it to make sure that the file works before wiping your hard drive. If you are a particularly paranoid user, you can make a secondary backup of particularly important files (for example, the My Documents folder) and burn a copy to CD/DVD or store it on an offsite server (for example, on your ISP account’s server).
Installing Windows has never been faster (or easier) and will certainly please many users (unless you are like me and counted on using that hour or so to run errands or have lunch). A custom installation is always preferable to an upgrade because it allows you to start with a fresh slate. Of course, running a custom installation means that you are ready to lose the content of your hard drive and create any necessary partitions. If you are uncomfortable about doing that kind of thing, we would highly recommend buying a copy of Symantec’s Partition Magic software that lets you handle both operations very easily and comfortably. For more information on this product, please visit www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice/products/ system_performance/pm80/index.html.
Upgrade An upgrade installation is simply an upgrade of your existing operating system with Windows Vista. If you perform an upgrade installation, Windows Vista uses your existing Windows operating system as a base and installs Vista onto your hard drive. The upgrade installation is the type that Microsoft recommends (see Figure 2.2), assuming your previous version of Windows allows for an upgrade. If you are moving to Windows Vista from a non-Windows operating system, you will need to perform a Custom installation. Any applications or documents currently found on your installation hard drive are saved and can be accessed. Although not the cleanest installation of the bunch, it is a safe installation that guarantees the integrity of your existing files and documents. Unlike a custom installation, you must run the Vista upgrade directly from your current Windows operating system and not boot your computer from the Vista DVD. The autorun splash screen looks slightly different from the Custom installation splash screen; for example, you can
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perform a compatibility test before you attempt the upgrade. Once you start the installation, Windows Vista runs a second compatibility check on your computer to make sure that your hardware is compatible with Windows Vista. If any red flags are raised, Windows alerts you to the hardware in question. If you have any incompatible software on your computer, Vista requires you to uninstall it and to start the installation process over again. If any incompatible hardware is essential for the user, he may consider the next installation option: dual boot installation. Upgrade installations are commonly used and are safe to perform. Like we said for Custom installations, performing a full backup of your current system (preinstallation) and testing its validity before proceeding with installation is a necessary step. Vista also lets you transfer files to another computer from the splash screen before you start installation. These types of installations are of value to users who want the best of both worlds. They will have the Windows Vista operating system, but the familiarity of having their applications and documents exactly where they were before. You may have to spend some time reorganizing your folders, or replacing icons on your desktop. The next two types of installations: dual boot and network are technically not available on the installation type menu during installation; however, you can perform them through a Custom installation.
Figure 2.2. The Windows Vista Upgrade option.
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Dual boot installation You may be surprised to know that you can actually run two different, independent operating systems on a single computer. If you have a secondary partition or another hard drive, you may opt to perform a dual boot installation. A dual boot installation is when you have more than one operating system on your computer. For example, you may wish to run Windows XP on your primary (main) partition (hard drive), which is your boot drive and install Windows Vista on your secondary partition or a second hard drive (non-bootable). This installation is performed exactly like a custom installation; however, you must be careful not to install it on the disk where the other operating system is currently installed. After you do this, you can select the desired operating system when you boot up your computer. When you turn on your computer, a screen displays the available operating systems and asks you to select one. You can access applications from the drive of the other operating system provided that the applications are compatible. For example, you should be able to access Windows XP applications, while Linux applications cannot be opened under Windows Vista. The dual boot installation can be a bit tricky; if you are not comfortable with setting up a second operating system on your machine, please ask a computer professional to help you. However, if you do opt for this installation, it can be very helpful to have two different operating systems on your computer. You can safely keep all of your existing hardware and toggle to your other operating system should it not be compatible with Windows Vista. If you plan on installing a dual boot configuration on your computer using Vista, there are a couple of other salient points that you should consider before going forward: ■
Do not install Windows Vista on a compressed volume (unless it is NTFS compressed).
■
If you are running Windows Vista and Windows NT on the same computer, do not using NTFS as the only file system type.
■
Install each operating system on its own partition.
■
Use a different computer name for each installation if you are on a domain.
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Watch Out! Before attempting a dual boot installation, be sure to make a complete backup of your existing personal files and operating system. You should also make sure that you have CD backups of any installed software in case you must re-install.
Network installation Although it is not explicitly mentioned during the installation procedure, you can still perform a network installation of Vista. If you want to install Windows Vista on multiple computers, you can make the software available over a network for users to install. Doing this is particularly easier than in the past because Windows Vista is stored in a single file (as a disk image), albeit a very large one. You can also perform an upgrade installation, which is similar to a new installation (as described briefly in the above paragraph). In this case, the user inserts a media disc to install the operating system on his or her computer. Unlike during a new install, the user has no questions to answer or settings to set; the user’s old settings are brought over to the new machine. If you are using Windows Vista at home for personal use, it is unlikely that you would use a network installation unless you have created a true home network. This installation is primarily for system or network administrators in a corporate environment.
Other installation options If you are worried about making the jump to Windows Vista because it is still brand new, you can try the virtual option. By using software such as VMWare or Microsoft’s Virtual PC (an Express version is included in several editions of Windows Vista), you can create a virtual hard drive and install a custom installation of Windows Vista in a virtual environment (see Figure 2.3). By doing so, you have all the benefits of running the Watch Out! Using Virtual PC or VMWare may require specific hardware requirements. For more information on using either of these applications, and how to install Windows Vista using them, please refer to the manufacturer’s Web site or documentation.
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operating system from your machine without the dangers of potentially overwriting or otherwise breaking your computer. This is a good way to try out Windows Vista without the hassle of performing a new or upgrade installation and then having to remove it from your system if you prefer to go back to your old operating system. It also has the benefit of letting you toggle between two different operating systems with the Alt + Tab key combination.
Figure 2.3. Windows Vista installation running under VMWare.
Buy a new computer, get Vista free In this everchanging economy, everyone is looking for a deal. Here’s some free advice: Want a free copy of Windows Vista? Buy a new computer! Before you take us too seriously, here is our explanation. As Windows Vista starts to roll out, computer manufacturers will start to release Windows Vista compatible machines. Before you write these machines off as a marketing ploy, it may be a good idea to compare the cost of one of these machines to the cost of any eventual hardware upgrades your
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What does it all mean? Microsoft very cleverly came up with two types of Vista-ready computers: Vista Capable (see Figure 2.4) and Vista Premium. As you can see, both sound nice, but one clearly sounds better. A computer that is Vista Capable means that it has enough juice to run Windows Vista. The operative word is, of course, “run.” It can install the software, run Vista applications, and function properly. However, it does not meet the requirements to take advantage of all of Vista’s features (notably the more high-tech ones). That, of course, is reserved for the other kind of computer: Vista Premium. A Vista Premium computer has it all. Not only does it meet the requirements to run Vista, it exceeds them. If your PC is certified Vista Premium, you can take advantage of such features as Aero.
computer may require. For starters, you may want to visit Microsoft’s Get Ready Web site at www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/ default.mspx. This Web site has just about everything you need to know to prepare for Vista’s arrival. It features the Vista Upgrade Advisor that determines whether you’re ready for Vista or you have some upgrading to do. Buying a new computer is also the easiest way to guarantee that you have a computer that is compatible with Windows Vista and to be sure that you are Aero-ready (if that is your intent). Another great source of information is the Hardware Compatibility List (HCL). If you read the (HCL), which is a list of hardware devices that have successfully proven to be compatible with Windows Vista, then you know that this is one demanding operating system. Hardware, which in the past may have been considered high-performance, may simply not be up to par for Windows Vista. At the time of writing, the first Windows Vista-ready computers are just now becoming available (also known as Vista Capable or Vista Premium). This means that the computer is strong enough for you to run Windows Vista on it; it does not mean that Windows Vista is already installed. However, you can be sure that these computers will have the necessary motherboard power, processor speed, video card, and RAM requirements to not only run Microsoft Vista comfortably, but also to take full advantage of its features (such as the Aero environment).
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Figure 2.4. The Microsoft Windows Vista Capable logo.
There really is no easier way of guaranteeing that your machine is 100 percent compatible with Vista out of the box unless it has the Vista Capable logo. Not only can you be sure that your hardware is compatible with Vista, but you can be sure that on-board software is also compatible with Vista and that you have the most up-to-date drivers for these applications. Are there any disadvantages of buying a Windows Vista–compatible machine? That depends more on the user than the machine! One early concern is availability. Currently, you won’t be able to purchase Windows Vista in retail stores until January 2007. We suggest shopping for a computer with the hardware compatibility list (or minimum requirements) in hand. There are also a number of hassles involved with a new computer — be it a Windows Vista compatible machine or not. For example, computer manufacturers (particularly popular brands) tend to install considerable amounts of trial software. Often this software works for a short period of time and then requires you to pay for it if you want to continue using it. In addition to increasing the final cost of your computer, many times you find that you really do not want some of this software. As a result, you could have a considerable amount of unused icons on your desktop and your icon tray. Because some of this software loads at Bright Idea Before buying a new computer, find out if it (or its hardware) is Windows Vista Capable. For more information on this, please visit either www.microsoft. com/whdc/winlogo/default.mspx or www.microsoft.com/ technet/windowsvista/evaluate/hardware/vistarpc.mspx
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startup, valuable computer resources are used. As a result, you may spend a great deal of time uninstalling some of this software. For more information on this, turn to Chapter 4. If you are a home user, you may want to consider purchasing your computer at a local retail store for the post-sale or technical support options that accompany the sale. Although it is harder to select or build your computer à la carte, you have a better chance of finding on-site or quality technical support. Buying online can be hit or miss depending on if you buy from a heavy hitter (like Dell or Gateway) or if you are going through a smaller company. An online vendor calling itself Joe’s Tire and Computer is less likely to have a robust technical support plan than the heavy hitters. If you buy from a local retail store, you may be able to have on-site or at-home repair included in your warranty, which saves you the time of having to ship back your computer to the manufacturer (which can take several weeks to repair, not including the day or two it takes to receive the airway bill to ship the computer back). There is always the option of using the Windows Marketplace (see Figure 2.5). The Marketplace is a Microsoft initiative that lets you buy
Figure 2.5. The Microsoft Windows Marketplace.
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Microsoft-endorsed products from third-party merchants through a Microsoft portal. In other words, you can go to the Web site (www. windowsmarketplace.com/Content.aspx?ctId=366) and select the material you want. If you decide to buy it, you are forwarded to the third-party site where you can configure and purchase. You can also buy digital cameras, software, drivers, and so on. The advantage of buying through Marketplace is that you are guaranteed to find Vista Capable and Premium machines.
Upgrade your existing computer If you are one of those folks who really does not feel like spending an exorbitant amount of money to replace a computer, perhaps for financial reasons or because you recently bought the computer you have, then you are certainly not alone! You can upgrade your computer in areas that might be lacking instead of replacing it. Deciding whether to upgrade or replace your computer does not have to be a difficult decision. The biggest determining factor in this decision is the age of your computer. Most likely, any computer purchased over two years ago is not worth upgrading. The cost of material can still be relatively expensive, so if you need to upgrade memory, hard drives, video cards, and motherboard, you quickly arrive at the price of a whole new system! In some cases, replacing one piece of hardware may require you to replace another piece of hardware so that they are compatible! Table 2.1 illustrates the minimum requirements necessary for you to use Windows Vista. Table 2.1 represents the most recent information available from Microsoft concerning minimum, recommended, and ideal requirements. These guidelines should be treated like the bare minimum requirements that they are, especially for the hard drive and memory requirements. If possible, it would be best to have at least 1GB of RAM installed. If you cannot support 1GB of RAM, you may want to use a USB Watch Out! When determining whether or not your computer is truly an “upgrade” candidate, you must be realistic. Any machine older than two years is probably worth replacing, as opposed to upgrading. When considering an upgrade, it is best to aim higher than the minimum requirements.
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Watch Out! Before making any upgrades to your computer, please visit the Microsoft Web site to make sure your system is compatible. For a current list of compatible processors, please visit www.microsoft.com/technet/windows vista/evaluate/hardware/entpguid.mspx#EHC.
drive as virtual memory to speed up your system. For your hard drive, try to allow for 20GB installation space just to be on the safe side. Of course, these numbers also depend on which edition of Windows Vista you are running, as well as which features you install post-installation (you cannot select which features to include during installation, this is all done post-installation).
Table 2.1. Windows Vista requirements Component
Minimum
Vista Capable
Vista Premium
Processor
800 MHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
800 MHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
RAM
512MB
512MB
1GB
Hard Drive
20GB (15GB available)
20GB (15GB available)
40GB (15GB available)
Graphics
N/A
DirectX 9 capable with 64MB memory
Aero-compatible card with 128MB memory
Display
SVGA (800x600)
Optical Drive
CD-ROM drive
CD-ROM
DVD-ROM
Audio
N/A
N/A
Audio capable
Internet
N/A
N/A
Internet access
By comparison, Windows XP required only 64MB of RAM and 1.5GB hard drive space. Of course, Windows XP and Vista are not really comparable in terms of capabilities, so naturally, the required system resources are greater (especially in terms of memory and disk space).
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The true cost of Windows Vista As you can see from this chapter, Windows Vista is clearly a big jump up from Windows XP — especially in terms of resources necessary to run it! The cost of moving to Windows Vista clearly goes beyond the price of buying the software. Unless you are buying a Windows Vista–certified machine, there is a very good chance that a large number of users will be required to upgrade at least one component of their computer. If you are upgrading memory, buy a larger DIMM (512MB or 1GB) because most computers have two memory slots; this in turn means greater cost than if you bought a smallercapacity DIMM. The risk of having to do a major computer upgrade or even replacing a computer (especially if it was purchased relatively recently) could be a potential roadblock to Windows Vista sales for a number of current Windows users. In many countries, exorbitantly high sales tax rates may very well prevent a large number of users from spending the money necessary to either upgrade or replace their computer, and buy the Windows Vista software.
Microsoft’s selected media choice isn’t totally clear at the moment. We have heard of both DVD and CD-ROM versions of Windows Vista. Most online retailers are currently only offering the DVD version of Windows Vista. According to hardware requirements, a DVD-ROM is only necessary if you want to be Vista Premium Ready. Perhaps it’s an illadvised assumption on the part of Microsoft that every computer shipped these days has a DVD-ROM on board. However, we guarantee you that if you buy a budget computer or an I-can’t-believe-this-price computer from a major retailer, it most likely has a standard CD-ROM Watch Out! Once you determine appropriate compatibility with Windows Vista, please read all third-party documentation carefully before attempting to install any hardware or software.
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drive. If you are installing from a DVD, Windows Vista checks in at over 2GB. Obviously, the Windows Vista installation file can only fit on a DVDROM, thus the need for the appropriate drive on your machine (unless you are performing a network installation). Fortunately, DVD-ROM drives have dropped drastically in price as of late (you can probably buy one starting at $40 or $50) and can be installed in minutes. We cannot stress how important it is for you to fully analyze your Windows Vista needs before going out and upgrading or buying a new system. Besides the cost of buying equipment, you also run the risk of high maintenance fees if you have to take your computer to the shop in order to have upgrades installed. You also have the hassle of potentially being without your computer for an extended period of time. Analyze what you are looking for in Windows Vista, and how it will improve your experience, and then measure that against the state of your computer.
Use your existing hardware Should you decide to perform an upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista (for more information on installation, please read Chapter 3), there is one major task you should perform that can be done in one or two ways: ■
Use the Upgrade Advisor
■
Use the Hardware Compatibility List
If you are deciding to use what you already have, you should make sure that everything is compatible with Windows Vista. To start, visit the Microsoft Web site to make sure your basics are compatible — processor, graphics processor, and so forth. You can currently view this list at www. microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/evaluate/hardware/ entpguid.mspx#EHC. Of course, if you are feeling brave, or are sure that your computer is up to the challenge, you can perform the upgrade installation. As we discuss later, the Windows Vista installer does a system compatibility check and alerts you to any hardware or software that might not work with Windows Vista. If it turns out that a particular piece of hardware is incompatible with Windows Vista, but it must absolutely stay because you use it, you may want to consider a dualboot installation that was discussed earlier in this
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chapter. This option allows you to use the functionality of both operating systems. Just keep in mind that this particular hardware cannot be used in Windows Vista; you have to boot using the other operating system in order to access and use it. If you are going to use your existing hardware, you may want to also consult the HCL or Get Ready Web site discussed earlier in this chapter. This is similar to the list mentioned in the link earlier in this section. This is your roadmap to hardware that is compatible with Windows Vista; if your material is on this list, your machine should work without any red flags. However, if it is not on this list, there is no guarantee that it will work, as stated earlier. Although Microsoft does not explicitly state that the non-listed hardware will not work, it is not guaranteed to work and therefore not recommended. The Get Ready Web site also has the Upgrade Advisor to guide you through upgrade preparations. Before you start upgrading hardware left and right, do an analysis of your needs and price out parts. In many cases, it may be cheaper to buy a new computer. Even if it is cheaper to actually buy new hardware, you also need to evaluate whether or not you are tech savvy enough to install it. While installing extra RAM is easy enough, installing a motherboard can be a time-consuming procedure, and one that comes with certain risks. For example, it is easy to short a motherboard by touching it with static build-up. The cost of labor can drive the true cost of actual hardware upgrades considerably higher. The Upgrade Advisor is an excellent tool that answers two crucial questions for you: Is my computer Vista compatible? What edition of Windows Vista is best for me? This is a quick download that performs a full analysis of your computer; it also asks you to rate your system priorities and what you plan on doing with your computer. Based on your information, the Upgrade Advisor suggests the best edition for you. It also rates your hardware, letting you know areas where you could upgrade to enjoy the full Vista experience. This wonderful feature is discussed later in this chapter. Watch Out! If you decide to use non-recommended hardware or hardware not on the HCL, you agree to do so at your own risk. It is highly unlikely that any warranties would apply if using such equipment were to cause your computer to stop working.
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The Windows Vista hardware compatibility list For every Windows release, Microsoft puts out a list of hardware that has successfully completed a battery of tests and is officially deemed “compatible” with that version of Windows. Any hardware that is on the list is guaranteed to work with Windows Vista. Hardware not on this list may or may not work. Should you perform an installation with incompatible hardware, you run the risk of an unsuccessful installation or problems running Windows Vista once installed. To avoid the problems we discussed earlier in this chapter, consult the Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) on the Microsoft Web site. Currently, you can find it at the following address: www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/library/plan/ed1 e3b7d-5ea7-4ad3-be3f-af29f7b48dde.mspx?mfr=true.
Collecting information about your computer This section is primarily for people who have bought a computer with Windows Vista already installed. Windows Vista is just as helpful as Windows XP in terms of letting users know what is on their machine. Staying abreast of what is on your machine is important for a number of reasons. If you are thinking about upgrading a particular component of your computer (hard drive, graphics card, memory), you can use the System Information feature to analyze devices that might be good upgrade candidates. Having this information handy can be really helpful for diagnosing problems when using Windows Vista. Even though Windows Vista is pretty intelligent and insists on running tests when errors occur, personal knowledge has no equal; do not rely on the computer alone to handle all potential errors or incompatibility issues.
Using the System Information feature The System Information program has the same purpose as in Windows XP; it gathers and prints out system information so that you know exactly Bright Idea If you are using hardware that is not on the HCL, you may wish to check the third-party vendor’s Web site and see if a Windows Vista–compatible driver is available.
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what is on your computer (see Figure 2.6). The report is pretty exhaustive and might take several pages to print out. Also, keep in mind that a lot of the data is rather technical and might not always be of interest to you. This information is helpful when troubleshooting problems.
Figure 2.6. The System Information window.
The System Information feature, like in Windows XP, is found in the System Tools folder under Accessories from the Windows menu. The only real change in the Windows Vista version of this handy little application is the interface. Aesthetically, the Windows Vista version is much, much nicer. After you select System Information from the Windows menu, it may take a few seconds to load as it loads and refreshes your system data. When it is ready, a flurry of information related to your computer is displayed. You may then print the information from the File menu.
Putting the numbers together If you bought your computer from a vendor, you should make a list of all your hardware and their subsequent model numbers. When upgrading
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your system, the list comes in handy when checking to see if your hardware is compatible or whether you need to update your drivers. This goes for your motherboard, video card, sound card, CD/DVD drive, and network cards, too. Unfortunately, you may need to crack open your computer and look inside and find the specific component in order to find its model number.
Dealing with firmware when working with hardware Some hardware devices have device-specific code called firmware embedded in them. Firmware enables features and functions so that operating systems can make the best of the hardware. Devices that often have firmware are motherboards (for example, the BIOS, or basic input-output operating system, is the “brain” of the motherboard), CD/DVD drives, and networks. Sometimes video cards also have firmware. Be sure to check with each device’s manufacturer to see if updated firmware is available for your device.
Determine device driver versions Device drivers are hardware-specific code used by the operating system so that it can interact, manage, and control the hardware’s functions. Windows Vista features device drivers for a large number of hardware devices available, while some new ones may be available on the Windows Update site. Be sure to check with the device manufacturer to see if new drivers are available for use with Windows Vista. By RC1, almost every driver required on our computers was available and installed during installation.
What’s your (file) type? If you are upgrading from Windows XP, you may recall that you could use one of three file system types: FAT, FAT32, and NTFS; however, you most likely are using NTFS. If your last upgrade has been a while, a file Watch Out! If you incorrectly update or change a device driver’s firmware, you may completely disable it, rendering it useless. If you download new firmware, be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully. If this is something you are not comfortable doing, by all means, have a computer professional help you.
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system is how directories and files are organized and how they interact with the operating system. In Windows Vista, the two FAT file systems are supported, but it is much better for you to use the NTFS file system because it handles access control, encryption, and compression; all of which are unavailable in the FAT systems. For more information on this, see Chapter 14.
Internet settings In today’s electronic age everyone from preschool children to grandmothers are online. Internet connectivity is arguably the most important function of a computer. No one is buying these blazing fast machines to play solitaire! Regardless of whether you are using a national provider, a local ISP, or your company’s network, you should have all the necessary connection information so that you can set up your computer properly (see Figure 2.7).
Figure 2.7. The Network and Sharing Center.
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This information may already be available on your computer, or you may need to see your system administrator (if this is a professional computer or if you are connecting to an office network). If you already have Windows Vista installed: 1. Click Start Control Panel, and then click Network and Sharing Center. 2. Click View status under Network. 3. Scroll down the list and then select the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) item if it is not already selected (shown in Figure 2.8). Make sure the check box stays selected; otherwise, you will disable the Internet connection. Click Properties.
Figure 2.8. The Local Area Connection Properties window.
Write down all the information in the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties dialog box. This may not be all the information you may need. Dialup users need the dialup access information, including account Watch Out! You may notice that the image in Figure 2.8 contains the IPv6 protocol. This version is newly supported in Windows Vista.
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name, password, and server settings (see Figure 2.9). Cable modem users may require PPPoE (Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet) modem and account logon settings. If you have any questions, call your Internet service provider (ISP) or refer to the ISP’s Web site support section for help in collecting this information.
Figure 2.9. The Internet Protocol Properties window.
The Upgrade Advisor Instead of using an upgrade wizard, Microsoft instead developed the Vista Upgrade Advisor (see Figure 2.10). This tool is designed to help users or companies test their computers for Vista upgrade readiness. This battery of tests includes system information, application compatibility, current devices, and hardware configuration to help you decide which edition to use, as well as determine any hardware weaknesses. It’s also a nice tool for home users to use as well! You can download it from the Windows Vista Get Ready Web site (www.microsoft.com/ windowsvista/getready/default.mspx). The Upgrade Advisor is a quick download, which you then install and run! When you start the Upgrade Advisor, it displays a list of various features or user experiences as checkboxes. For example, if you are interested in using the Aero environment, or are interested in mobile computing, you
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can click the corresponding check boxes. The Upgrade Advisor helps you decide which edition is right for you; the suggested edition appears at the bottom of the window based on your selections. The next screen displays any suggested hardware upgrades. The following screen displays a driver report by selected experience. You can ultimately save or print the Upgrade Advisor’s report. This is the easiest way to figure out which Vista is right for you as well as how your computer stacks up. For users who want a quick analysis of their computer without having to compare their computer against the HCL, this is definitely the way to go.
Figure 2.10. The Upgrade Advisor is the best way to determine Vista compatibility.
About activation and registration Like versions that came before it, Windows Vista lets you register your copy of Windows Vista and requires you to activate your software. There is a major difference between these two procedures. Windows Vista registration is an optional procedure where you provide user information to Microsoft (such as name, address, e-mail) in
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Bright Idea Before you install Windows Vista, make sure that you read the terms of your license agreement to see how many computers can use the same copy of Windows.
order to receive product support or updates, as well as any other Windows news. This procedure can be done online and in no time. (At the time of this book’s writing, the Web site for Windows registration is not yet available.) Registering Windows Vista is a great way to stay up to date with the latest Vista information. Activation, on the other hand, is a mandatory procedure that is required in order to use Windows Vista. Activation is how Microsoft verifies the validity of your copy of Windows Vista via the Windows Genuine program and that the license agreement is followed. After you install Windows Vista, you have a 30-day window to activate your software either by telephone or online. If you do not, some Windows Vista features will stop working until you activate the software. For example, you can no longer create new files or save existing files. Generally, once you activate your software, you will not need to activate it again. However, if your computer undergoes “major surgery” (for example, you change a hard drive and memory at the same time) or if you reformat your hard drive or you are hit by a virus, you may need to reactivate. In this case, simply use the same product key as before. To activate your copy of Windows Vista, the best way to go about it is to click the auto-activation option during installation; this automatically activates Windows Vista for you. Of course, you can also do this manually by going to Help and Support and doing a search on “activation.” You can easily find a link to the Windows Activation window (see Figure 2.11). Otherwise, you can go to Start, Control Panel, System, and then scroll down to the Windows Activation section. This part of the System page indicates whether or not your copy has been activated. If not, you are prompted to activate your copy of Windows Vista. If so, it says “Windows is activated” and provides the Product ID number. A link is available if you need to change your product key. Once your copy of Windows Vista is activated, a dialog box appears indicating that activation was successful and that your copy is genuine.
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Figure 2.11. The Windows Vista Activation window.
Product activation is something that we suggest you do on your first day just so you will get it out of the way. Otherwise, you may forget and never get around to it. Plus, it’s such an effortless procedure that it will be over and done with before you realize it!
Windows Genuine Windows Genuine, aka the Windows Genuine Advantage, is a Microsoft requirement in order for you to use their operating systems. We say requirement because up until July 2006, this was optional. The logic behind Windows Genuine is a noble one; users must authenticate their copy of a Windows operating system in order to use it. You have 30 days from the installation date to authenticate your copy; if you do not authenticate it within this time frame, various operating system features are disabled until you can no longer use the applications. Many users tried to circumvent this; indeed, many people were offended by Microsoft’s actions for several reasons, including privacy
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issues. However, such circumvention is highly discouraged as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the United States could apply in some cases. As mentioned earlier, there have been privacy concerns arising that the program acts as spyware, reporting back to the mothership on a daily basis. Microsoft has denied any nefarious uses of the Genuine Advantage program. Whether or not you trust Microsoft’s motives in this matter, the fact remains that you pretty much need to authenticate your copy of Windows if you expect to use it. If not, many people in the IT community have a fairly good idea of their other options!
Upgrading your current version of Windows We discussed how to go about upgrading your computer to Windows Vista, but we haven’t mentioned the more pragmatic side of upgrading, which is software compatibility! Let’s assume that you are running an earlier version of Windows. While we all remember the fanfare with which they shipped, the following versions of Windows are no longer supported: ■
Windows 98
■
Windows 98 Second Edition
■
Windows ME
These versions now join Windows 3.11 and Win 95 in the trash bin. If you are currently running any of the above versions of Windows, the bad news is that there is no upgrade for you. You will need to buy and install a full copy of Windows Vista. For those of you who can upgrade, which should be a majority of Windows users, Microsoft’s upgrade plan is slightly confusing and definitely illogical. It’s important to read this section carefully before upgrading to Vista. First of all, there are two types of upgrade installations: ■
In-place upgrade (Upgrade)
■
Clean install (Custom)
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The in-place upgrade is a true upgrade installation, whereby you can save your current applications, files, and Windows settings. They are simply transferred from the old version of Windows to Vista. The clean install upgrade means that you are essentially wiping your hard drive and performing a fresh installation. If you use this installation type, you must first perform a backup of your files and un-earth your installation CDs before going forward. If you don’t perform a backup, you can kiss those files goodbye! Table 2.2 shows your upgrade availability to various editions of Vista from supported earlier versions of Windows. For example, if you are currently running Windows XP Professional, you can only upgrade to a high-end edition of Windows Vista. Ironically, Windows XP Home lets you perform an in-place installation to any edition. Of course, some operating systems, like Windows 2000, require a clean install regardless of which edition of Vista to which you plan upgrading.
Table 2.2. Upgrade availability of Vista editions Home Basic
Home Premium
Business
Ultimate
Windows XP Professional
Clean install
Clean install
In-place install
In-place install
Windows XP Home
In-place install
In-place install
In-place install
In-place install
Windows XP Media Center
Clean install
In-place install
Clean install
In-place install
Windows XP Tablet PC
Clean install
Clean install
In-place install
In-place install
Windows XP Professional x64
Clean install
Clean install
Clean install
Clean install
Windows 2000
Clean install
Clean install
Clean install
Clean install
If you learned anything in this chapter At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we will go ahead and dedicate a separate section to this one piece of advice that bears repeating:
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Always perform a full backup of your data before attempting to perform an installation or upgrade, or formatting your drive. Yes, it is time consuming; no, it is not fun, but you will feel much better knowing that your wedding pictures are safe in the confines of a backup drive rather than lost for good because an hour seemed like too much time to spend waiting for a backup to complete.
Just the facts ■
To run or install Windows Vista, you can either use your current computer if it has the necessary hardware configuration or you can buy a Vista Capable certified computer.
■
Be sure to consult the Upgrade Advisor, Windows Hardware Compatibility List (HCL), or Microsoft Get Ready Web site to make sure your current hardware configuration is compatible with Windows Vista.
■
Use the System Information feature to view a list of current hardware and keep a list of current model numbers and/or firmware.
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Although registering your copy of Windows Vista is optional, activating is not. Activate your software as soon as you install it.
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Always make a backup of your computer before attempting an upgrade or custom installation. You may wish to keep a special CD just for your documents or extremely important files, in addition to your backup.
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he moment of truth is upon us! After all the preparation, research, and verification, you now must take the big leap and install Windows Vista. Installing your operating system can be a very important lesson in seeing exactly what your computer is made of and how it works. If you are preparing for a new install, you start anew and enjoy a fresh start. Any spyware, unused software, and excess files are deleted and you work from a fresh slate. If you are performing an upgrade, you have the security of knowing that all your old files and documents are still there. You can take heart in knowing that installing Windows is no longer an afternoon-long process where you had to wait and guess when you needed to come back to validate a dialog box. Windows Vista installation can now be done within 35 minutes and does not ask a lot of questions prior to installation. However, before you begin, there are still a few questions you must ask yourself and answer before you begin your installation. In this chapter, we help you prepare and answer those questions before tackling the various kinds of installations available to you.
Hard drives and partitioning Before you install Windows Vista, take a minute to check out the state of your hard drive. How do you plan on 65
Chapter 3
GET THE SCOOP ON... Preparing hard drives and partitions ■ Deciding on a file system ■ Installing Windows Vista ■ Logging on to a domain or workgroup ■ Uninstalling Windows Vista
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installing Windows Vista? Will you be performing an upgrade installation and using a single, primary hard drive? Will you perform a new installation and use a single, primary hard drive? Perhaps you are going to add a secondary hard drive and add Windows Vista to this hard drive and use a dual boot configuration? Or, perhaps you bought a new computer and decided to reinstall Windows Vista after you format your hard drive. Will you leave the hard drive as a single, large partition, or will you break it into two or three smaller drives (partitions)? Many computers bought out of the box at a retail store feature a single hard drive where you store all your applications, data, and files. If you are using an “older” computer (remember, this is Windows Vista so it cannot be too old!), it is likely that you may have upgraded it by adding a second or third hard drive. Personally, we find it easier throwing a new hard drive into a computer than reformatting and reinstalling software or files to a single hard drive. A very important thing to remember, and it can admittedly be confusing, is the difference between a drive and a partition. Mistaking the two items can be a very costly error! Unfortunately, during installation, Microsoft kind of assumes you know what the difference is between the two. Your hard drive is akin to a filing cabinet, while the partition is much like the drawer in the filing cabinet. When installing Windows Vista, you must tell it which filing cabinet and drawer should be used to house the operating system. As we mentioned earlier in this chapter, many new computers feature an entire hard drive set up as a single partition. Although this is not such a bad thing, you may find it much more convenient to have a partitioned hard drive — that way your 100GB hard drive is now drive C: and D:, one with 25GB and the other 75GB. By doing this, you can put your operating system on C: and put your data and applications on drive D. Regardless of what breakdown you choose, we definitely do not recommend leaving your large disk as a single partitioned drive. Watch Out! During setup, Windows uses “destructive partitioning” to edit a drive’s partition table. If you make a change, you have irretrievably lost your old partitions and all the data on them. To avoid this, try using Symantec’s PartitionMagic to safely manage partitions prior to installation.
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Watch Out! Partitioning can be a complicated and potentially dangerous affair. Even though Microsoft tells you that this can all be done from a command line (a prompt), only advanced users should attempt this. More unfamiliar users should either do this using third-party software designed to work with partitions or should seek a computer technician’s assistance.
Keep it simple! If you grew up in the United States, you are most likely familiar with the expression “Keep it simple, stupid!”, or KISS. Gratuitous insult aside, it is very good advice for readers at home who are contemplating their new or upgrade installation. Windows Vista features a number of ways to configure your hard drives, file systems, or partitions. These tools were built in for different technologies that are required in different situations. Windows is designed to work in a number of different fashions: on a diskless workstation, as a session within Terminal Services, or as a platform for legacy application support. Creating a RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks), creating mount points, and working with dynamic drives can all enhance your Windows experience and maximize your computer’s power. For more information on these features, read Chapter 14. But, alas, with great power comes great responsibility, and with Windows flexibility comes complexity! There is no benefit to a system improvement if it is difficult to understand, implement, or troubleshoot. If you are a home user, you most likely will not use any advanced options; corporate users may use some of them, but they are most likely already configured by your system administrator. If this is your first time working with the Windows Vista installation process, take it easy and keep it simple. As you become more familiar with Vista, and after reading this book, you should be ready to implement some of the features above, such as working with multiple drives and configuring partitions. For now, have fun and keep it simple!
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If you ask most people who work with computers about partitions, most would agree that a two-partition hard drive is better than a single partitioned drive. In case of performing backups, it is much easier and cleaner to back up a drive that is purely data and application files, as opposed to a drive that also has operating system files on it. For custom installations, the general rule of thumb is to divide a drive into two partitions: one-third for an operating system and two-thirds for data and application files. If you want to use a dual-boot configuration, we suggest buying a second hard drive rather than using a second partition so that your operating systems are completely separate. By doing so, you are minimizing the risks of having two operating systems on a single hard drive. Technically, you can have two operating systems on two partitions on a single drive, but we prefer to err on the side of caution. Of course, if you are performing an upgrade installation to Windows Vista, you have fewer options. These installations are typically performed in the existing partition where the previous operating system is installed. You need to do this if you are to maintain existing applications and settings information. If you are a new user or feel intimidated by computers, do not worry! Many of these concepts seem intimidating or as if they are life-defining decisions, but it is not that bad! However, we must stress that when in doubt, please consult this book, the Microsoft Web site, or a computer technician to help you out.
Shedding the fat: Viva NTFS If you are preparing for an upgraded installation to Windows Vista, you must first back up and see what kind of file system you are using in your current version of Windows: FAT, FAT32, or NTFS. If you are currently running Windows 9x or Windows Me (Millennium), you are probably using FAT or FAT32. NTFS is more common on Windows NT or Windows 2000. If you are running Windows XP, you can use any of these three file systems, but are most likely using NTFS. Windows Vista only supports NTFS file systems, but this is a good thing. There are several reasons for this. First and foremost, you gain the benefits of access control, encryption and compression, event auditing, and the use of dynamic disks. None of these important features are available on a FAT system. Although these benefits might not seem tangible
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Inside Scoop Converting FAT to NTFS requires some additional space on your hard drive. The size varies depending on a number of factors; allow up to 500 additional megabytes for conversion.
to many users, administrators who maintain company computers on a network will appreciate these elements. If you are running a custom installation, Windows Vista tells you that it cannot install to a non-NTFS partition. You can either manually convert the partition to NTFS or select another NTFS partition. For upgrade installations, you can choose to convert an existing FAT32 partition to NTFS during the install process. This adds an additional reboot to the system, but otherwise does not affect setup.
Installing Windows Vista: Custom installation The moment of truth has arrived! Before you start, we recommend that you run through the installation checklist in the appendices. Doing this walks you through the steps to make sure you covered all your bases before proceeding with the installation. One of the nicest things about the Windows Vista installation is that it should take no more than 35 minutes and a single reboot. Yes, you read correctly. Gone are the days of reading “installation will take anywhere from one hour to a couple hours. . . .” Be mindful that you might not be able to perform a custom installation on your computer. If you bought a new computer, it most likely comes with a “restore disc” or a CD-ROM (or in this case DVD-ROM) called Windows Vista. This disc most likely contains an image of your operating system with applications that are preselected and preinstalled by the manufacturer. So, if you run the setup program, it installs everything the manufacturer wants you to have. This might not always be to your liking, especially if some applications are incompatible with ones you would like to install. One such example is that you want to use Big Software Anti-Virus on your new laptop; unfortunately, your laptop comes with Symantec Norton Anti-Virus (and a trial version at that!). Because you cannot customize your restore disc (and tell the computer which applications to install and which not to install), you can only uninstall Norton and then
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When free is more expensive than it sounds With so many bargains out there, computer manufacturers are throwing everything but the kitchen sink at you to entice you to buy. These little enticements are in the form of bundled software that is included with your computer. Let’s not get too excited about this great deal! Any software given away with a new computer falls into one of three categories: shareware, trial versions, and stripped-down versions. Shareware is software that was developed for the public domain and is either free or requests a small financial contribution (usually made via PayPal) to the developer. You do not see a whole lot of shareware on new computers, but stranger things have happened. Trial versions of software are very common; this kind of software is a fullyfunctioning version of an application for a limited time. Once the trial period expires, you either have a dead application on your machine or you have to pony up the cash and buy a license key in order for it to work. The license key turns off the “time bomb” that is activated when a program expires. This type of software is found predominantly in anti-virus or firewall software. Stripped-down versions of software are delineated by the addition of lite or express; in other words, they have limited features enabled. Depending on the type of work you do on your computer, you may be satisfied with the software described above. For example, Microsoft Works may be perfectly sufficient for some users. Whatever you decide, do not feel locked into using the software that comes with your computer. If you require higher-performance software that has the features you need, you may need to spend a little above and beyond what you spent on your new computer.
install Big Software. However, be advised that some manufacturers may consider this enough to void your customer support agreement. If you want to avoid this problem, or if you need to install Windows Vista on another computer, buy a copy of Windows Vista. By buying another copy, you can be sure that you are properly using your licenses and avoid any hassles when trying to perform an installation.
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Bright Idea It may be a good idea to browse the “What to know before installing Windows” link from the Vista Installation window before performing the installation. Often, software companies discover late-breaking information or problems that are too late to document in the help systems. That information, as well as any solutions, is frequently published in the Release Notes.
The following instructions are based on the assumption that you are installing a genuine, retail edition of Windows Vista. To perform a custom installation, follow these steps: 1. Insert your Windows Vista DVD-ROM, boot your computer, and wait until it loads. A custom installation must originate as a boot disk and cannot be performed directly from your existing Windows operating system. 2. Select your desired language, time, currency format, and keyboard layout (Figure 3.1) from the installation window. Click Next.
Figure 3.1. The Windows Vista Installation screen lets you select a number of formats settings.
3. Click Install now to begin (Figure 3.2). You can also view important pre-installation information or repair your computer from this splash screen.
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Figure 3.2. Important decisions are made from the Installation splash screen.
4. Enter your product key (Figure 3.3). This key can be found on a sticky label found on your DVD case or with your Windows Vista packaging. The product activation key is five sets of five alphanumeric characters; it must be successfully entered before you can continue installation. If you have any questions about what activation is, there is a link to a page in this window that explains the process.
Figure 3.3. The Windows Vista product activation key window.
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Bright Idea Think about selecting the Automatically activate Windows when I’m online check box. By doing so, you can rest assured that your Windows Vista is indeed genuine and automatically activated for you. If you do not select this box, you will have to manually do it. Remember that activation must occur within the first 30 days after installation.
5. The Microsoft License Agreement is the next screen. To be honest, most people never read these. However, it is not a bad idea to do so especially in this new era where companies want more and more personal information. When you have finished reading it, you should accept the terms in order to continue the installation. As you might imagine, declining to accept the terms of the license agreement cancels the installation. 6. The next screen (the installation type screen) is where everything starts to fork depending on your choice (see Figure 3.4). In this particular case, we are going to perform a Custom (advanced) installation. For more information on what a Custom installation is, please refer to Chapter 2.
Figure 3.4. The Windows Vista installation type window.
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Inside Scoop If you check the Automatically activate Windows when I’m online box and your computer crashes during installation, try the installation again without checking this box.
7. Now you select your installation hard drive — specifically, your installation partition (see Figure 3.5). The window displays each partition for each hard drive. It includes the partition capacity, available partition space, and the type of drive. You can also install a device driver that accesses your hard drive (if you have SCSI drives, for example). To do this, click Load Driver and follow the instructions. If you are concerned that the information displayed is out of date, simply click Refresh.
Figure 3.5. The Windows Vista hard drive window.
8. The installation process begins and should last approximately 35 minutes. Your computer reboots automatically during the installation procedure. If you need to cancel the installation for any reason, click the red button at the upper-right side of the window. Your computer will reboot and continue installation for a relatively short amount of time. Windows Vista loads for the first time and asks you to set up your environment. To do so, follow these steps:
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1. Choose a name and password for your computer. Click Next. The password is optional, but it’s a good idea. If you choose to password protect your computer, you’ll need to re-type it for security purposes. 2. The next screen lets you set up a distinct name for your PC and also lets you choose your background picture. Type a computer name and select a background. Click Next. The name of your computer is the name that will appear on networks. A limited selection of background pictures is available. You can always change it later using the extensive collection in the Control Panel. 3. The next screen lets you determine how Windows Vista works with updates. Select update preferences and click Next. We recommend using Use recommended settings. 4. Select time and date settings and click Next. The default settings are based on your initial language and format selections set at the beginning of the installation. 5. Select your current location (see Figure 3.6).
Figure 3.6. The current location screen helps you set initial security settings.
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The current location feature is used to select default security settings, such as whether or not your files are visible to other users. 6. Click Start. Congratulations! When your computer applies your settings, Windows Vista loads and you’re home! Chapter 4 details your first steps with Windows Vista and how to customize your Vista experience.
Installing Windows Vista: Upgrade installation The other common installation type is the Upgrade installation, which is also Microsoft’s suggested installation type. As discussed earlier, the
Upgrade anytime, almost anywhere! Back in the day, Windows used to be a single edition. You needed an operating system, and Microsoft gave it to you: Windows 3.11, Windows 95, Windows 95 2nd Edition, Windows 98, Windows Me, and so on. If you worked in large company, you may have used something called Windows NT. As time went on, Microsoft started giving us choices in the form of Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional. As Bob Dylan said, the times, they are a-changin’. With the release of Windows Vista, there are a number of different editions that are available for users (for more information on these editions, please refer to Chapter 1). However, Microsoft is making it easier for you to upgrade if you are not convinced that the current edition you are using is the right one for you. In the Control Panel, there is a new feature called the Windows Anytime Upgrade. Using this feature, you can decide whether you want to switch to Vista Home Premium or Vista Ultimate. To make a well-informed decision, there is a side-by-side comparison of the different versions. If you decide that an upgrade is right for you, Windows takes you to a third-party retailer Web site to purchase your license (activation key) where you can then go to the Activation page and add a new activation key. This is a pretty neat idea from Microsoft; kudos to them for not stepping on their retailers and OEM partners by selling direct to customers.
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Upgrade installation is a good idea if you want your file structure and data to remain the same and simply want to change your operating system. It is also ideal for users who are not comfortable setting configurations or making decisions about hard drives. Before you start your installation, get the facts by clicking What to know before installing Windows (see Figure 3.7).
Figure 3.7. Read the important release notes to get late-breaking information.
Unlike the Custom installation, this installation takes approximately 80 minutes, which is a huge difference from the Custom installation. This takes us back to Windows XP installation; hopefully this is something that Microsoft will improve. The installation splash screen is somewhat different. (See Figure 3.8.)
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Figure 3.8. The Windows Vista setup screen is slightly different for upgrade installations.
The following instructions are based on the assumption that you are installing a genuine, retailed edition of Windows Vista. To perform an upgrade installation, follow these steps: 1. From your current operating system, run the Windows Vista DVD. 2. When the splash screen appears, you can check compatibility or transfer files from another computer (see Figure 3.9). Once ready, click Install now from the Installation window. 3. Choose whether or not to upgrade installation information. 4. Click Upgrade. Vista performs another compatibility check (see Figure 3.10). Windows Vista follows the same procedure as the Custom installation from this point. Please refer to the Custom installation section for more information on continuing your upgrade. Watch Out! The upgrade installation can only be run from an upgrade compatible operating system (see Chapter 2). You cannot boot your computer using the installation DVD to perform an upgrade.
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Figure 3.9. You can also transfer files from another computer.
Figure 3.10. Vista runs a compatibility check to make sure your machine is ready for Vista.
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Watch Out! Vista will let you know if you have any incompatible software on your computer. If you do, you must exit the installation and remove it before being able to continue.
Installing Windows Vista: Network installation A network installation is something that you are not likely to perform if you use your computer for basic at-home use; however, if you have a home office or a small office, you may need to perform a network installation. This type of installation uses a shared installation file stored on your network. This can be a major time-saver for system administrators because instead of having to carry an installation CD around and manually install Vista on each computer, you can store the installation files once on a network and each computer can then install Vista using these shared files. During a network installation, the setup program is executed across the network, and the files are copied to the local computer. In order to do this, you must have administrator access to select options or complete information during installation. If you consider cloning or using Microsoft’s RIS (Remote Installation Services, used with Windows Server), keep in mind that this is not the same thing as a network installation. If you use cloning or using RIS, you make a copy of an existing operating system and its application, store it centrally, and then image it (that is, place a copy of the original files) onto network computers. The downside to this is that it contains the needed drivers and hardware details for a specific computer; in other words, it cannot be imaged onto just any computer on the network. For example, an image from a computer with a Pentium processor cannot be used on a computer with an AMD processor. Conversely, network installations are performed individually for each computer every time. Bright Idea Keep a list of the necessary license keys with you; remember that each computer that installs Windows Vista from the network will need either its own license number or a license from a volume of licenses.
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The hidden gotcha of network installs In theory, a network installation is really only useful for upgrade scenarios. The reason is fairly simple: You need network drivers and a Microsoft network client in order to connect to a shared folder containing the installation files. Whether you are running Windows 9x or Me, Windows NT, 2000 or XP, you are safe, because you already have the drivers and client installed and can connect to a shared folder on the network. If you are running a bare-bones PC, most likely, none of this support is installed, which makes connecting across a network difficult when networking is not installed and/or supported. Utilities that create a “universal” boot floppy for connecting to Microsoft network shares are available on the Internet. Be sure that these utilities have been updated for use with Microsoft Windows Vista.
As we mentioned earlier, the person responsible for the network installation needs to make sure that she has the appropriate license keys for the number of installations performed. Simply being able to make the installation file available on a shared network drive does not mean that you are free to install Windows Vista on every computer on the network. Retail, upgrade, or OEM licenses are good for a single installation on a single computer. Even if you create a network installation, you are required to have a valid license for every copy of Windows Vista you run on your network. Inside Scoop
Inside Scoop
Microsoft will eventually release a service pack for Vista. When it is available and you wish to do a network install, you can install it by creating a temporary folder on the same shared folder detailed above. Copy the service pack in this folder. From a command window, change directories to the temporary folder. Type the name of the executable plus the instructions, for example, sp1.exe /integrate: <path\sharename>, to integrate it into Windows Vista for new installations. If Vista is already installed, simply install the Service Pack.
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If you have more than a couple of machines, you should contact a reseller for information on purchasing additional licenses. You may also need to purchase Client Access Licenses (CALs), which are required for connections to Windows Servers. This is most often a scenario in larger companies or corporate environments. Microsoft volume licensing programs do not apply if you have fewer than five computers to manage, so many home or SOHO (small or home office) users must rely on standard pricing for their copies of Windows Vista. The following instructions show you how to copy the Windows Vista installation file to a network drive: 1. Copy the contents of the Windows Vista CD to a shared folder on your network. 2. Point the desired computer to the shared folder on the network and click setup.exe (the shared folder must have previously been mapped to a drive letter by the administrator). 3. Install the Windows Vista upgrade as indicated earlier in this chapter. Activate your copy of Windows Vista using a valid license key. If you are using Windows Vista at the office, most likely your systems administrator or a colleague from the IT department will handle network installations. Most IT technicians are usually wary about letting users handle network installations (or anything dealing with the network). If you are a home user, this is a relatively easy process, though it is unlikely you will perform such an installation unless you run a small office out of your office. If you are performing a SOHO network installation, please refer to Chapter 6 for more information on sharing folders and directories.
Installing Windows Vista: Dual booting with Windows As we discussed earlier in this chapter, a dual boot installation can be a worthwhile compromise if you have a powerful enough computer. If you have a dual boot configuration, Windows gives you the choice at startup of selecting between installed operating systems. Dual boot, also known as side-by-side, installation is a great way for you to test Windows Vista without losing the comfort and safety of a working
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Giving your system the (multi) boot There are a number of reasons that we have discussed for why you might want to have multiple operating systems on your computer: security, maintaining legacy applications, hardware compatibility, testing, or just fiddling around. There are a number of ways to get this done, depending on your budget or how important this really is to you. The cheapest way (assuming you already have all the hardware) is just to use multiple drives or partitions and just install operating systems to your machine. You can modify the boot.ini file, while letting the Windows boot manager figure out what is installed. (At time of writing, Microsoft had not added any articles to the Knowledge Base on performing a dual boot with Windows Vista.) Alternately, you can drop a little cash and buy specialized software that was designed to be a standalone boot manager. Such software includes Symantec’s PartitionMagic (Sound familiar? It also includes BootMagic, the boot manager!). For more information, visit the Symantec Web site at www.symantec.com. Other options include OSL2000 at www.osloader.com; Masterbooter at www. masterbooter.com; and Boot-US at www.boot-us.com. These applications are reasonably priced; please see their respective Web sites or retailers for pricing specifics. Please note that versions for Windows Vista may not be available until Vista is available publicly or soon after. Your fancy, high- falootin’ option is to use virtual machine software. Virtual machines create a sandbox on your machine (separating it from the rest of your data and files) where you can safely run another operating system. By using a virtual machine, you can easily roll back changes or remove the operating system from your machine. Two popular choices are VMWare’s VMWare Workstation or Microsoft’s Virtual PC. For more information on either of these, please visit their Web sites. If you decide to run virtual machine software, please consult the user documentation before installation or running a second operating system.
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installation. It also lets you keep your old installation in case compatibility issues preclude moving to Windows Vista with all your hardware and software. There are three ways to create a dual boot system; two of these are highly recommended, while the other is not. The recommended methods are to install Windows Vista onto a second hard drive installed on your computer, or to install Windows Vista into an empty partition on an existing hard drive. Regardless, do not install Windows Vista onto the same partition as your existing Windows installation. Why is this method a bad idea? Application files within the same partition are altered when you boot between the two systems. By doing so, your applications and the operating system will become unstable and eventually unusable. The only reason that you would ever want to do this is for troubleshooting. In most cases, the other operating system is so corrupted that the machine will no longer boot. The same-partition install lets you boot back into the computer and commence data recovery measures. To create a dual boot installation: 1. Follow the steps in the “Installing Windows Vista: Custom installation” section earlier in this chapter. 2. Select a new drive or a different partition on the drive where the current operating system is installed. 3. Continue installation as illustrated in the “Installing Windows Vista: Custom installation” section. Watch Out! Dual boot installation can only be done using a new installation. Because the upgrade installation does not allow for selecting drives or partitions, this is not a viable option.
Inside Scoop
Inside Scoop
If you install Windows Vista using VMWare Workstation on a blank partition, you must use the Diskpart utility at the command prompt (Shift + F10) and do the following: select disk 0 and then create partition primary. Reboot your virtual machine and then continue installation. Failure to do so provokes an error and halts the installation process.
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Installing Windows Vista: Dual booting with Linux Many people, from business folks to regular folks, are adopting Linux as a free desktop replacement. Linux has plenty of features that appeal to users: the ability to configure just about every aspect of the operating system, the free, high-quality applications available for it, the lack of susceptibility to viruses and worms that love to attack Microsoft products, and the desire to avoid the “Microsoft Tax.” Perhaps some of these reasons apply to you; if so, perhaps you may want to give Linux a shot? The term Linux is used generically to define a complete package of programs, including the core operating system and applications. In reality, Linux is simply the kernel that makes the operating system work. What most people really mean when they say Linux is a distribution (or distro) configured to meet various goals. There are hundreds of distros available, and new ones are built every day. Some focus on security, some focus on gaming, and some try to be a better Microsoft than Microsoft. To see what distros are available, browse the site www.distrowatch.com, which lists some distros that you may have heard of and quite a few that you probably haven’t! Dual booting with a Linux distro can be a pain in the backside at times. This difficulty arises due to the Microsoft boot manager’s deliberate design to recognize only operating systems that come from Microsoft. If you install a Linux distro followed by Windows Vista, you will find that the boot.ini file does not list the Linux distro and you now have no way to boot into Linux. Both Linux boot managers (GRUB and LILO) recognize Windows and will provide a way to boot into it, but if you then boot into Windows Vista and at some point install a service pack, it will clobber your Linux boot manager and you’ll be back to playing around with Linux boot manager settings. You can still set up your computer for dual booting with a complete version of Linux on a partition on your hard drive. Most Linux distros Inside Scoop
Inside Scoop The term “Microsoft Tax” is a pejorative expression frequently heard in the computing world to describe Microsoft’s licensing scheme, in terms of fees and restrictions.
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Bright Idea When you buy a new computer, you can ask for one that does not have an operating system on it. This allows you to save money by not paying licensing fees for the operating system or all those other preinstalled applications you never use (Microsoft Works, we’re looking in your direction).
come with HOWTO files that explain how to set up a dual boot environment with Windows, though the HOWTOs can vary in quality and comprehension. As you might imagine, Microsoft does not provide any instructions on how to do this. In fact, the Microsoft Knowledge Base includes articles only for how to remove Linux. Clearly Microsoft doesn’t want you receiving other suitors for your attention; whether you appreciate Redmond’s concern for your computer’s choice of operating system is for you to decide. Because the dual boot procedures differ from distro to distro, a stepby-step dual boot or multiboot guide will not be provided here. The Linux community, on the other hand, hasn’t taken the dual boot challenge lying down. Several major distros have created live CDs that you can boot from and that load a preconfigured version of Linux into RAM; by doing this, no partitions or files on your hard drive are ever touched. If you have a broadband or DSL connection, you can download and burn a distro to a CD or DVD and run Linux from your CD or DVD drive. You can also order a live CD or DVD from various vendors at a nominal cost. The most popular live versions are Knoppix (www.knoppix.org), Mandriva Move (formerly Mandrake LiveCD) (www.mandriva.com/en/ individuals/products/move), and the Novell SUSE (pronounced “SOO-suh”) Professional Live DVD (www.novell.com/products/ linuxprofessional/index.html). The Knoppix version shown in Figure 3.11 is particularly adept at detecting your hardware and presenting you with a working desktop at boot time, courtesy of sophisticated installation scripts. Live CDs are a fantastic way to dual boot with Linux, see what all the fuss is about, and leave your existing operating system intact and untouched. With Knoppix, if you like what you see, you can issue commands that will install the live CD onto your computer into a dual boot configuration (or, if you’re willing, as the only operating system). Because Linux is so flexible and configurable, you may find yourself running Linux more often than Windows.
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Figure 3.11. The Knoppix distro is clean, colorful, and easy for Windows users to work with.
Logging on to a domain or workgroup Windows Vista is a slight departure from past versions for users that run over a domain or workgroup. When you first log on to Windows Vista, you will notice that there is no box for a domain or workgroup. Logging on to a domain or workgroup is quite simple: Because there is nowhere to input the domain, just enter the domainname\username as the username and the domain password as the password. Windows Vista will run the logon script, connect to network drives, and manage permissions.
Uninstalling or removing Windows Vista You can uninstall or remove a copy of Windows Vista a number of ways. The easiest and cleanest way of doing this is by first performing an upgrade installation. By doing so, you can simply go to the Control Panel and remove the operating system upgrade. When you install an operating system upgrade, certain files are left on your computer in case you need to “roll it back” (uninstall the upgrade). This is convenient if you have compatibility issues with your existing applications and need to regain any lost features or functionality.
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Watch Out! If you perform this type of uninstallation, keep in mind that all your Windows Vista files, applications, and data will be permanently deleted.
Even though Microsoft clearly wants you to upgrade to Windows Vista, you also need to make sure that this particular point in time is good for you. Microsoft, despite many of their wonderful qualities, makes it very difficult to take steps back in the past. In other words, once a new operating system releases, you should abandon any previous versions. Of course, that’s not always possible for myriad reasons that we covered earlier in this chapter. So, in order to avoid a potentially messy uninstall, perhaps a dual boot might be the right choice for you. There is still hope for you yet if you performed a new install! This method is slightly more dangerous or “less clean” than an upgrade removal. To do this, put the installation disc of your desired operating system, let’s say Windows XP, into your drive. Reboot your computer with the Windows XP install disc and start the installation process. Choose a “clean install” that should be performed on the same partition/drive as the Windows Vista installation. The Windows XP installer will format the hard drive and then perform a clean installation of Windows XP. If you are trying to roll back an eventual Windows Vista service pack installation, you can simply go to the Control Panel and remove the service pack like any other application.
Just the facts ■
Run through the Windows Vista installation check list that is found in the appendices.
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Decide which type of installation is right for you: new, upgrade, virtual machine, or dual boot.
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Prepare your hard drives for your desired installation; this involves creating the necessary partitions or formatting disks.
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Be careful when uninstalling your Windows Vista operating system.
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ongratulations! Yes, now that the hard part is out of the way, you can jump right in and get your hands dirty and start exploring Windows Vista. Installation wasn’t that bad, now was it? All that is in the past, so let’s take a look at some of the many features the Windows desktop affords us in Windows Vista. After Windows Vista loads for the first time, you may notice some striking differences and some neat features designed to make your experience more comfortable, easy to manage, and fun. If you have the proper graphics capabilities, Aero will make these differences come alive, almost literally! In this chapter, we will walk you through the Windows desktop, including the items mentioned at the top of this page, as well as a few other surprises!
Meet the Welcome Center Ever the hospitable host, Windows Vista loads the Welcome Center on startup, shown in Figure 4.1. If it does not appear, you can launch it from the Welcome Center icon in the Control Panel. If you want it to appear every time, simply check the “Run at startup” box near the lower-left corner of the page.
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GET THE SCOOP ON... Welcome Center ■ Aero theme ■ Desktop basics ■ Windows Sidebar ■ Online help ■ Ease of Access ■ Gadgets ■ Themes ■ Automatic Updates
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Figure 4.1. The Windows Vista Welcome Center.
The Welcome Center is where your Windows Vista experience begins. It features a wide array of information that may be helpful to you. The top section of the screen features basic system information such as which Windows Vista edition you are using, processor type (and speed), onboard memory, video adapter, and your computer name. If that has simply whet your appetite for more information, you can click the Show More Details link , which brings you to the System section of the Control Panel (shown in Figure 4.2). This page really doesn’t offer much more in the way of new information, but it does allow you to do or view certain things: view your product ID and operating system processor (32 or 64 bit), and change computer name settings. You can also see your system rating to see how compatible your computer is with Windows Vista, as well as find out more about Genuine Windows. Back in the Welcome Center, 14 other options or services are available in the bottom half of the window. These options are ■
View your computer details
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Register Windows
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Access the Control Panel
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Set up the Windows Media Player
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Add new users
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Add a printer
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Personalize Windows
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What’s new in Windows Vista (for your edition)
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Windows Easy Transfer
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Windows basics
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Windows Vista Demos
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Ease of Access Center
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Set up devices
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These 14 options are a great starting point for getting your new operating system up and running, Instead of having to search for commonly run tasks, you can access a good number of them here. These features are all detailed at various points of this book.
Figure 4.2. The Welcome Center displays additional information via the More Details link.
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Keeping it real One can imagine the folks in the marketing department at Microsoft getting together with the development folks, thinking of ways to make buying and activating your operating system something cool and fun to do. After much reflection, Genuine Microsoft is born (logo shown in Figure 4.3). The imaginary backroom scenario aside, the Genuine Microsoft Software concept is very much real. In our case, it is Genuine Windows. The idea behind it is to see the tangible benefits of activating and validating your copy of Windows Vista (or any other Microsoft software). For years, Microsoft has used a Certificate of Authority (COA) that represents genuine Microsoft software. Be careful, this is not a user license! This simply means that the software on your computer is true and legitimate and not off the streets. Using genuine software is extremely important, especially when we’re talking about operating systems. As a consumer, you want to know that your software is a genuine product issued by Microsoft. Using genuine products comes with certain guarantees and assurances (not to mention product support) that pirated or bogus software cannot. To make sure your copy of Windows Vista is genuine, you can validate it. Microsoft creates a match between your computer’s hardware profile and your license key (what you used to activate the software). Besides the obvious ethical and legal reasons for not using illegal software, there is an incentive to validating your copy of Windows Vista. If you fail to do so within the required time frame, features will stop working one by one until you either validate your operating system or until everything is disabled.
Figure 4.3. The Microsoft Genuine logo.
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Beneath these options are seven other icons bundled under the Offers from Microsoft heading. These are links that open Internet Explorer and take you to various Windows Live components. These include ■
Windows Live Toolbar
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Windows Live Mail Desktop
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Windows Live Messenger
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Windows Live OneCare
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Windows Marketplace
You can also find out more about the Windows Live program, as well as sign up for technical support. Unlike previous versions of Windows, Vista doesn’t include a messenger by default (MSN Messenger no longer exists — it is now Windows Live Messenger). You can use the Welcome Center to download the new version. Simply clicking any of these 21 icons displays informational text at the top of the Welcome Center. If you aren’t sure about the purpose of any of these features, these are good overviews of what they do and how they can improve your Vista experience (see Figure 4.4).
Figure 4.4. Not sure about Windows Vista Demos? Click the icon to find out more.
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Finally, as mentioned at the beginning of the chapter, you can decide whether or not the Welcome Center should appear every time you start your computer by selecting the appropriate box (see Figure 4.5). Should you decide not to see this screen every time your computer starts (by leaving the check box empty), you can manually open this window from the Control Panel. We like to keep the Welcome Center activated; we find it to be a nice central location for a number of the features that we use most. Given Windows’s propensity to launch quickly, we didn’t feel that its presence slowed down our experience in any way.
Figure 4.5. You can decide whether or not to display the Welcome Center at startup.
Introducing the Aero experience Aero is the code name for the Windows Vista revamped graphical interface. The acronym stands for Authentic, Energetic, Reflective, and Open, and it is the premium Windows Vista experience. Considerably more dynamic than the Luna desktop of Windows XP, the refreshed Aero really puts an emphasis on graphics and greatly improves your overall experience as a user (see Figure 4.6). However, don’t be disappointed or surprised if you can’t experience it (and don’t be embarrassed if you don’t recognize the difference if you’ve never seen Luna). The requirements for experiencing Windows Vista Aero are pretty stringent; for more information on that, refer to Chapter 2. Overall, the Aero experience is a very cool enhancement to the Windows Vista operating system, however, there is a price to pay for going Aero as we discuss later in this section. Whether or not it is worth the technological firepower depends on how you use your computer and how badly you want to have a “pretty” interface. Why is it so special? Windows Vista Basic is simply a decent environment that makes the user experience more enjoyable. Aero is remarkable because it goes well beyond the scope of the Basic environment and
Inside Scoop
Inside Scoop Windows Vista will not display anything mentioning Windows Vista Basic in the Control Panel if your computer is not fully compatible with its requirements.
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scales to your computer’s capabilities. In other words, if your computer is fully Vista Premium, you can take full advantage of the Aero environment. If your video card is kind of weak, some features (for example, the transparent buttons) might be sacrificed. Of course, if your graphics card is simply not up to par, you won’t be seeing anything in Aero; instead, you’ll see the Windows Vista Basic environment. Aero is a traditional theme in that it captures the essence of Windows, but it goes far beyond that. It goes a step further by offering a transparent, airy, see-through effect, just like glass! Want an example? Easy — just take a look at your Recycle Bin! It’s completely transparent, as though it is floating on your screen. If you were to change your background, the recycle bin would remain transparent as if you were looking through glass, all while the background changes colors seamlessly and on-the-fly. Sticking with our recycle bin motif, notice that files in the Recycle Bin now appear as scrunched up balls of paper! As you can see, it remains transparent while carrying out its duties as a trash receptacle. Why would you want this transparency? Well, it allows you to better visualize folder content. It’s also easy to customize it, including color and saturation levels.
Figure 4.6. The Windows Vista Aero desktop.
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Aero is much more than a souped-up Recycle Bin; Microsoft didn’t spend R&D money on making a jazzier trash bin. Aero features a much more intuitive navigation and improved toolbars and taskbar (see Figure 4.7). Also notice that Microsoft has increased visual clues (such as mouseover text); for example, if you move your mouse over a taskbar icon or a feature, you see descriptive text explaining its purpose. Transparent dialog boxes and buttons and neon or plasmalike progress bars are all a new part of the Windows Vista Aero environment.
Figure 4.7. In Aero, you can view the contents of your folders from the taskbar.
Windows Vista uses the new Desktop Window Manager (DWM) to enable the Aero environment, assuming you have the proper video card to run Aero. Instead of drawing directly to your screen, applications draw on off-screen buffers that are in turn processed by the DWM and then displayed. By using the DWM, the details in the next paragraph are now made possible. Take a look at the primary aspects of Aero. There are some pretty neat new features that enhance the Vista experience — if you are Aero compliant. Don’t expect to see any of these if you are not Aero ready!
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Aero versus Vista Basic In all the excitement over the new features, it’s easy to become confused or mix the two expressions. The Aero experience is the full, transparent environment that Microsoft created for use with Windows Vista. Unlike any other environment precedent, parts of the window are transparent (yes, you can see right through them!). The dialog boxes also behave differently from what you are used to — they open in an expanding manner. In other words, they start off on the small side and grow gradually larger. The standard buttons at the top right of the window also glow if you hover your mouse over them. These buttons are also transparent, and give dialog boxes a ghostly effect. The Vista Basic experience, on the other hand, is also nice, but not as exciting. The buttons and dialog boxes are not transparent; they have the setting as defined for the current theme. The Vista Basic environment is far less graphic-intensive than its souped-up brother. If your current configuration does not satisfy Aero requirements, you can use the Classic style that imitates the Windows 2000 user interface.
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Dynamic windows. A somewhat spooky feature, a minimized window “animates” to a specific part of your screen; in theory, this makes it easier to find when you maximize it. Instead of simply re-appearing like in Windows XP, the minimized window in Aero pops out at you.
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Live taskbar thumbnails. If you’re Aero compliant, a live thumbnail snapshot of your taskbar icon appears (shown in Figure 4.7). This is similar to the Live Icons that we discuss in Chapter 6.
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Windows Flip. This is an improved version of the Alt+Tab feature of the past. Windows Flip shows you a live thumbnail of your available windows over a transparent background, as opposed to showing boring icons (shown in Figure 4.8).
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Windows Flip 3D. Using Start+Alt+Tab, open windows are displayed as a 3D stack (shown in Figure 4.9). You can flip through the open windows using arrow keys or the scroll wheel of your mouse. You can also use the display buttons next to the Start button on the task bar.
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Figure 4.8. Toggling open applications now has a more visual bent.
Figure 4.9. The Windows Flip 3D display is a very cool way to display your open windows.
There are two levels of Aero graphics (down from the originally planned three levels) in Windows Vista: Windows Vista Aero and Windows Vista Basic. The point of having two levels is to not exclude users who have a weaker graphics card. The Aero environment requires a bit of muscle in order to truly take advantage of the full Windows Vista experience. You want to make sure your video card can support Direct X 9.0 and is Vista Premium, though the onboard video memory is equally important! As you can see, the entire Aero experience is much more the sum of its parts rather than a single item.
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How does Aero affect Vista? Who can benefit from the Aero theme in Windows Vista? If you are a professional user, or rather one who uses Windows either in a corporate setting or in a small office/home office (SOHO), you’d be hard pressed to find a manager who would red light or approve Windows Vista or its graphics requirements simply based on this environment. The video requirements alone would make most purchasing managers shy away from going Aero. Nevertheless, the improved graphics and icons are very helpful. In fact, the entire user experience with this environment is simplified for users. Everything is so intuitive that it could possibly translate into fewer calls to technical support. Microsoft has stressed that the new Aero environment is the most efficient and intuitive front-end to date. Based on our experience over the past several months trying Windows Vista, we have to agree. We started off in Vista Basic before upgrading video cards to enjoy the Aero features. It is certainly much more enjoyable using the enhanced graphics.
Picking the right graphics card As we mention in Chapter 2, the graphics card is the biggest roadblock to using Windows Premium. The key to running Aero isn’t so much your processor speed or memory, but your graphics card. Although most recent computers, even budget computers, have the firepower to run Windows Vista, the video cards are often lacking. The problem with video requirements is that they require a high-end video card, which is rarely inexpensive. If you are running a budget computer, you most likely will not have the proper video adapter on your motherboard, which could require a new motherboard or a new computer, not to mention a new graphics card! If you are a gamer, then you will most likely have a sufficiently strong video card. Nevertheless, please consult Appendix A for a list of currently supported video cards for Windows Vista Aero.
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Inside Scoop Developers use theme values instead of hard-code colors in Aero (these are stored in comctl32.dll). The pixels also use a greater dpi (dots per inch), giving them a crisper effect.
Aero is a big bonus to users still working with a small monitor. By being able to resize folders, users may find their experience more enjoyable — no one likes having to use ill-sized folders or icons. If you have the computer firepower, by all means, take advantage of the Windows Vista Aero or Basic themes. The improved graphics, cleaner-looking icons, and graphic representations help you adjust to Windows Vista and can also be a lot of fun to play with as you make your way around the new operating system.
Aero and the Vista interface Aero also represents a major shift in Microsoft aesthetics. Since the days of Windows 98, Microsoft used a standard named Wizard 97 for managing design and layout for Microsoft products. Wizard 97 is now replaced by Aero Wizards, a design standard that is in line with the current Aero environment standards. There are a number of changes in the Aero Wizards (see Figure 4.10), many of which you may notice; however, a few are a bit more subtle. For example: ■
Wizards in Aero are resizable, as we mention earlier in this chapter. By comparison, in Windows XP, you could not change the size of a wizard window.
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Back buttons are no longer at the bottom of a window, next to the Next button. These are now located in the upper-left corner of wizard windows.
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Welcome screens in wizards are now a thing of the past; you’ll notice that the first screen in a wizard is now an action page (it requires users to make a decision rather than just clicking Next to start the task).
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Options and contextual help is now represented as a hyperlink referred to as a “command link.”
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Figure 4.10. A sample wizard in Windows Vista running Aero.
Aero also changes the way you view things. The default font is Segoe UI, one of six new fonts introduced in Windows Vista. For readability purposes, Microsoft has increase the default font from 8 pt to 9 pt. Of course, you can change the default font and size using the Control Panel.
Back to the desktop basics Before we get too deep into the Windows Vista desktop, we want to go over some important basics. In this section, we take an in-depth look at the Windows Vista desktop reviewing some of its new features, showing some of the new look, and discussing how you can maximize your efficiency with the new Windows Vista look and feel. After all, the desktop is most likely where you will have the most interaction. As the old expression goes, “you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.” This saying is just as true when meeting someone for the first time as it is for using a new operating system. Fortunately, Windows Vista does not disappoint. Windows Vista manages to mix the colorful aspects of Windows XP, but also integrates some of the more industrial feel of Windows 2000. You can perform a number of graphical maneuvers from the Windows desktop. Doing this helps you create your own user experience by mixing and matching colors, icon styles, how dialog boxes appear, or themes in a way that best illustrate your own style and tastes. Being able
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to personalize Windows and its desktop is still one of its best features. You can change nearly everything, including wallpaper, icons, and resolution.
Time to launch and roll! After you log in, Windows and the desktop loads and you notice a number of new occurrences that immediately remind you that this is not Windows XP anymore. For example, the new Windows Vista Welcome Center appears, acting as your initial host. (For more information on the Welcome Center, please refer to the beginning of this chapter.) Perhaps you noticed the new and improved icons on the desktop, which are larger and better indicative of what is in the file. Or, depending on your settings, perhaps it was the Windows Vista Sidebar running up and down the right side of the screen the way the Microsoft Office toolbar does. We’re sure you noticed how fast Windows Vista loaded! This is a massive improvement over Windows XP, which seemed to take forever and a day to load all of the startup services and applications. If you have a disc in your DVD-ROM, the AutoPlay window appears offering you a number of options. If you have already run Windows Vista and it closed with an error, a Windows dialog box appears at startup offering to diagnose and fix the problem. As you can see, even from startup, Windows Vista is busy analyzing and working to provide you with the most comfortable user experience possible. Of course, finding several dialog boxes and text balloons indicating problems is annoying.
Using the taskbar Like its predecessor, Windows Vista continues to use a taskbar to facilitate your work environment, as shown in Figure 4.11. The basic tenants of the Windows taskbar are still the same, but a number of small differences mean easily recognizable cosmetic changes. The first change you notice is that the ubiquitous Start menu button has been replaced by an orb featuring the Windows logo. If you mouse over the Windows logo with the Aero theme, it will glow. (We discuss the Windows menu later in this chapter.) Another big change involves the Windows taskbar, which is now a transparent granite color in Aero; in Basic it is black. This color change gives Vista a cooler, more avant garde feel to it in our opinion. Open applications continue to appear as application icons, albeit transparent
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icons. The taskbar continues to include icons of important applications next to the Start menu as well as show desktop and Flip 3D buttons. These applications appear in the taskbar and in a submenu that you can access by clicking the double arrow icon. If you are using the Aero environment, you’ve already read about the changes, including live taskbar thumbnails. The other changes to the Windows Vista taskbar involve the notification area on the right side of the taskbar. These individual changes are noted below.
Figure 4.11. The Windows Vista taskbar.
Clock The Clock feature is much more practical in Windows Vista (shown in Figure 4.12). Now more than a basic timepiece, you can now set up to two additional time zone locations in the Clock feature. After you set these additional time zones and name the clocks, you can see the set of clocks simply by performing a mouse-over on the notification bar or clicking the displayed time. The date also appears in the information box.
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Figure 4.12. The greatly improved Clock can hold up to three different time zones.
Volume Control The Volume Control dialog box has been refreshed to match the new, updated Windows Vista look and feel (shown in Figure 4.13). If you mouse over the icon, an updated information box appears with your current volume, expressed as a number (0–100; 0 being mute and 100 being full volume) along with the name of your audio device.
Figure 4.13. The Windows Vista Volume Control is modernized.
Network The Network icon is partially new in Windows Vista. In Windows XP, the online computer is represented by an icon of two computers blinking, which indicates that a data transfer is in progress. In Windows Vista, if your computer is connected to the Internet, a small rectangle with a globe in the lower-right corner appears in the taskbar. If you mouse over this icon, the name of the server or Internet connection appears in the information box.
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Inside Scoop You can get rid of the Security Alerts icon from the notification area by opening the command prompt and typing HKCR\CLSID\{FD6905CE-952F-41F1-9A6F135D9C6622CC}.
Windows Security Alerts Windows Vista provides a real-time icon of the Windows Security Center; this icon changes color depending on the state of your system security. For example, if the icon is an orange color, this indicates that the Security Center requires your attention. The Windows Security Center now includes Windows Defender on board to watch for malicious spyware or ad tools. This program used to be available for download for Windows XP, only it was called Windows Spyware. More information on the application can be found in Chapter 7. For whatever reason, Microsoft decided to call the icon that opens the Windows Security Center the Windows Security Alerts icon.
Windows Sidebar The Windows Sidebar looks like a monitor or television screen. There are two ways of working with this icon. Right-clicking it brings up the settings menu for the Sidebar. Double-clicking this icon makes the Sidebar disappear; double-clicking it again brings it back. This application is detailed later in this chapter.
Desktop resolution Your desktop resolution is a combination of what modes your video adapter is able to display and which resolutions your monitor can display. Most new video adapters available on the market today can easily display 1600 (horizontal) x 1200 (vertical) resolution at 32-bit color. Older cards often do not have the power and memory to render all the computations needed at that rate. For information on supported resolutions for your video card, you can consult your user documentation or the manufacturer’s Web site. Monitors also vary and play a role in what resolutions to use from your video card. The older the monitor (or even if it is a newer LCD screen), the less likely it is to be able to render higher resolutions.
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Even though Microsoft covers what kind of video adapter and graphics cards to buy for use with Windows Vista, the question of monitors never really arises. If you buy a computer with Windows Vista included, this won’t be an issue. However, if you are upgrading or building your own system, you should strongly consider middle- to upper-range LCD monitors. If possible, avoid CRT (traditional) monitors. Be sure to verify the monitor’s minimum and maximum resolutions before purchasing.
You can change your resolution easily: Right-click anywhere on the desktop and select Personalize — or go directly to the Control Panel and select Adjust screen resolution from the Personalization section. The Display Settings window displays indicating your current video card, its current resolution, and current colors (see Figure 4.14). You can play around with the settings until you find one that you like. However, if you choose a resolution that is not supported, the screen will go black. Your monitor documentation undoubtedly lists supported resolutions. If you need to adjust settings for the graphics control, you can do this by clicking the Advanced Settings button.
Figure 4.14. The Display Settings window.
Windows Vista also uses a font-dithering algorithm first introduced in Windows XP called ClearType. Initially designed for laptops, it makes onscreen text more readable. Unlike in XP, Windows Vista turns this feature
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on by default. According to independent studies, ClearType can improve reading speed and comprehension by up to 5 percent. To maximize the benefits of ClearType, Vista introduces seven new fonts, as shown in Figure 4.15. You can disable this feature, if desired, from the Appearance window under Personalization. Click Effects and make the necessary changes and click OK.
Figure 4.15. The new fonts in Windows Vista.
Video cards, drivers, and management applications Most new video cards come with comprehensive drivers and management programs that can adjust nearly every aspect of a card’s performance. By the time Windows Vista is released, we suspect most major manufacturers will have Windows Vista drivers available. Frequently, these drivers install tabs in place of the standard Windows ones that change desktop resolution, color quality, and monitor refresh rates for you. If you have one of these programs installed, you should use it to fiddle with your adapter’s settings. Although you can still use the default Windows dialog boxes, you’re better off playing the game the way video card manufacturers intended so that you can be assured that you are really setting the settings for your video card. Because the interfaces vary dramatically among adapters, an in-depth discussion of specifics is beyond this chapter. But here are a few tips on getting the best out of your card.
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Make sure your drivers and management applications are up-todate. Even though the screamingly newest drivers may have bugs, any drivers that are more than a couple of weeks old are probably safe to use. And, as with many things in software, the older the hardware, the more likely the bugs have been pretty well squashed. In this case, the drivers for Windows Vista that are Vista ready and Aero compatible are quite new.
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Most video card help files and user guides are hopelessly obscure. Find an official or unofficial forum or message board for your video card, lurk there for a while, and learn from the mistakes of others.
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If you work in a profession such as graphics design or video editing, hang out on profession-specific forums. You will find a lot of advice about specific adapter settings for particular projects, including tweaks to make the card faster.
Desktop backgrounds and screen savers If there’s anything that people are usually familiar with in Windows, it’s the desktop background and screen savers because they’re easy to set up and people enjoy personalizing their Windows desktops. Formerly known as wallpaper, Windows Vista has opted to use “desktop background” instead. That’s not the only change! Backgrounds are better organized and of higher quality. In the Personalization menu of the Control Panel (Appearance and Personalization), choose Desktop Background. Backgrounds are divided into ten different categories in a drop-down menu; be mindful that it can take a few seconds for all the pictures to load (even with over 2GB of RAM). If you click on an image, it automatically appears in the background. If you decide to select another image, it will be replaced by the next image you click. If you decide not to add an image, the original desktop is restored. After you select a background, you can dictate how it is displayed: Fit to Screen, Tiled, or Centered. After you have set this parameter, click OK. You can also use the Browse button to select a different image. Some of the preloaded backgrounds are quite impressive, especially in Aero, where the colors really seem to come alive. Setting a screen saver is just as easy! It’s at the same root location as the desktop backgrounds, except that the last level is called Screen Saver (shown in Figure 4.16). This feature works pretty much just like it did in
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Hint If you’d like to use one of your own images as a desktop background, you should save it to Documents (the new name for My Documents) or even the same folder as the bundled images. Avoid saving it to an area where you may need to relocate it, for example, the desktop.
Windows XP. You can opt to display the logon screen when you resume activities once the screen saver is active and you resume your activity. The only noticeable difference is that the My Pictures Slideshow option no longer exists in Windows Vista’s list of screen savers.
Figure 4.16. The Screen Saver window.
What has changed are the Power Options, which are still accessible from the Screen Saver window (Figure 4.16). Windows Vista now features power plans that help you to strike a balance between energy savings and performance. There are three plans: ■
Balanced
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Power saver
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High performance
If you are actively using your computer or laptop using an AC adapter, we would suggest that you use High performance. If you are away from
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your computer, or waiting on a long download, why not switch to Power saver? Each plan can be individually modified to set when the display should shut off and when the computer should hibernate. There are also a number of advanced settings. These settings, which include setting a wake-up password, sleep settings, and so on, are manually set in the Power Options window, shown in Figure 4.17, using the change plan settings link. You can always revert to the default plan settings by clicking the Restore default settings for this plan link in the Edit Plan Settings window.
Figure 4.17. The Power Options window.
Working with themes Themes are a central part of the last few releases of Windows. They affect almost every aspect of the desktop and, as a whole, the user experience. A good theme can make or break one’s opinion, or at least enjoyment, of Windows. Don’t believe us? Try using the Windows 3.11 color scheme and see how enjoyable that experience is, especially if you’ve grown accustomed to Aero!
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Themes are readily available on the Internet for download; Microsoft even gives us three to get on our way. Most major motion pictures have a film-based theme available, and many fan sites create themes for just about any topic imaginable. There are three themes (two real ones, to be honest): Windows Classic, Windows Vista, and My Current Theme (see Figure 4.18). Windows Classic has to be the ugliest theme ever created. We can’t imagine any user would actually use this. Take a look and you may understand why. This is a throwback to early incarnations of Windows. Why Microsoft would choose to use this theme instead of developing a new “basic” theme is a mystery. We don’t think many people are nostalgic for early 1990s Windows.
Figure 4.18. You can pick one of three themes or add your own.
The Windows Vista theme is the real deal, especially if you are equipped to run Aero. If you can take advantage of Vista, this theme is everything that you’ve read about in this chapter. Even if you can’t quite take advantage of all the benefits of Aero, it’s still a nice, modern theme Watch Out! You can run the Windows Vista theme even if you are not Aero capable. You still enjoy the benefits of the “new” theme and interface appearance, but without all the powered-up graphics.
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with high-quality graphics and performance. All around, it can make for an enjoyable Vista experience. The final theme, My Current Theme, is a bit of a cheat — it is activated any time you modify one of the other two themes. For example, if you change the default desktop background, your theme is now called My Current Theme. When selecting a theme, you can preview it by using the minibrowser in the Theme Settings window. You can also save your customized My Current Theme settings by clicking the Save As button. You can also delete it or any other theme by clicking Delete. If you save a theme, it will be saved by default in the Documents folder. If you import a theme, this is one place to save it. The prebundled themes are found in the Windows Resources Themes folder. It’s really up to you to decide where you want to save a theme. Some people aren’t comfortable writing to the Windows directory; if that’s the case, then by all means just use Documents. We personally prefer storing themes in a more discrete location, for example, C:\Themes, in order to prevent anyone (including ourselves) from inadvertently editing or deleting them from Documents. At the end of the day, Microsoft doesn’t leave much choice in terms of themes. You can’t help but wish that you had another option or two. If you can run Aero, we recommend that you enjoy it. If you can’t or aren’t impressed with the Vista theme, we suggest that you download a theme that is more to your liking rather than trying to play around with the current themes, because tinkering around can be time consuming! There are some big-name theme-management developers, such as WindowBlinds (www.stardock.com). Their creations are shareware and are relatively inexpensive, and the site has libraries of themes for you to browse. As Vista is arriving, it’s a safe bet that they’ll be selling Vistaoriented themes soon. We’re not aware of one at the moment, but it’s hard to believe that they won’t create one for the Vista release. The SuperPacks traditionally include new themes, screen savers, games, and the odd add-on. Inside Scoop
Inside Scoop If you install a theme and it doesn’t work, you must enable the Themes service. To do this, click Start and enter services.msc in the search box. Scroll down to the Themes entry, double-click it, set it to Automatic, click Start, and then click OK.
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Themes, schemes, and skins Microsoft uses the terms themes and schemes to mean different subsets of technology; unfortunately, most users probably don’t make a distinction. In software development, anything that changes the look and feel of an application is called a skin. Many programs are “skinnable,” such as Winamp, MSN Messenger, and even Windows Media Player. Although you’d think the industry would keep the terms straight and use them consistently, that’s not always the case. WindowBlinds uses skins with Windows, according to their Web site. Rather than worry about using the correct terminology, just recognize that they’re all about the same thing — changing the interface so that it looks the way you want it to.
Icons Icons are a vital part of Windows Vista. They are really worth 1,000 words. As mentioned earlier, and further discussed in Chapter 6, Windows Vista has created the notion of Live Icons. Icons come alive to offer true graphic representations of the files they symbolize; they’re no longer simply a generic image file indicating a Microsoft Word file, they are scalable thumbnails. If you’re in a folder, you can easily resize the icons from the Views menu. There are four types of icons: small, medium, large, and extra large (Figure 4.19). Previously, you could set the icon size from the Display Properties window. In Windows Vista, you can locate the option in the menu bar of a given folder. Perhaps you don’t like the icon currently assigned to your file type? Open the Properties for the folder or file in question and go to the Customize tab. The Change icon button at the bottom allows you to pick Watch Out! If you decide to download any themes or icons on the Internet, be sure to run an antivirus check on the files before attempting to install them. These sites are easy prey for dodgy types to infiltrate and wreak havoc in the form of a virus.
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from a decent list of icons. These icons are found in the shell32.dll system file on your computer. If you still aren’t satisfied with your icons, you can download others from a number of Web sites.
Figure 4.19. A sample of extra large icons.
Relearning the Start menu The Start menu, evidently, is where it all starts. It’s also where a large number of features, both visible and more discrete, have changed since the last version of Windows. The first noticeable change is that the green Start oval is gone and is replaced by an orb with a Windows logo in it (see Figure 4.20). What you probably won’t notice are the two primary reasons for the new Start menu look and feel. Microsoft wanted to make searching applications, Favorites, or e-mail easier than it has been in the past. The other is to make the All Programs menu easier to navigate. This is where Microsoft hits a home run! If you click Start, a charcoalcolored menu appears. On the right, your account picture appears along with your account username. Below that are links to your documents, pictures, music, and games (there are also other features, such as a computer and network). Here’s the best part — in the new Search box at the bottom of the Start menu, you can easily locate any application on the computer simply by typing a few letters of its name. As you enter the letter of an application, a list of appropriate applications appears and is reduced on the fly until you have the desired application. For example, if
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you typed “wor” in the Search box, you would find two applications: Microsoft Office Word (if installed) and WordPad. If there were any relevant Favorites or History entries, they too would appear. We’ve found this new method of searching particularly helpful when trying to locate Administrative Tools.
Figure 4.20. The Windows Vista Start menu.
The maneuvering of the Start menu also is different in Windows Vista. If you are familiar with Windows, you know that clicking Start and then All Programs results in a long list of applications and menus — often taking up most of your screen real estate trying to display the entire menu! You then see submenus, or if there are a lot of applications installed, you potentially miss an application at the bottom of the list because it was cut off. Microsoft responded to the many users who complained that the old way was too complicated. We agree with these users and really like what Microsoft did in Windows Vista. From now on, when you click All Programs, a tree-style menu and submenus appear on the left side of the Start menu. What was the Start menu and list of recently
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Hint Windows Vista is much more contextually-oriented than past versions of Windows. In Vista, if you mouse over an icon, a contextual menu appears with a description of the feature. If the icon is an application or file icon, it displays the path of the application or file.
used applications in Windows XP is now the sole location of Start menu application menus. If you click on a folder in the Start menu, it is replaced by the contents of the submenu, which expands. Clicking the submenu a second time collapses it and returns you to your starting point, which means that you maximize your screen real estate. The menus and submenus in Windows Vista are much more responsive; clicking on an application icon is also considerably more responsive than in Windows XP, which always had an annoying delay. The interface is also considerably cleaner; you no longer have to potentially take up the entire screen expanding Start menu submenus (see Figure 4.21).
Figure 4.21. An expanded Start menu folder.
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Inside Scoop If you mouse over any of the shortcuts on the right side of the Start menu, the default picture located above the username will change depending on the current shortcut.
If you right-click any of the shortcuts (Start menu items) listed under the username in the Start menu, you’ll notice that there are a number of options that can be set that are relevant to that particular feature. For example, if you right-click Pictures, you can add the content to the Windows Media Player list or even open it with Windows Media Player — all without having to actually open the folder. If you’d rather have the pinned Start menu icons (shown in Figure 4.22), you can drag any of the text shortcuts to the left side of the Start menu and they’ll appear at the top of the menu.
Figure 4.22. Pinned Start menu icons.
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The final aspect of the Start menu is the improved set of buttons at the bottom right of the Start menu. The first button puts your computer into Sleep mode. Formerly called Stand By in Windows XP, this energysaving feature shuts down your computer without turning it off. Pressing a key on the keyboard, or moving your mouse, wakes the computer. The second button locks your computer. Get in the habit of locking your computer, especially if you are at work or any other public or nonsecure location. If you have a password, you’re required to enter it when you return to your session. If you do not have a password (and you should have one!), you can simply click on your user account from the Welcome screen (or switch users). The final button, which looks like a right arrow, is actually a fly-out menu and offers several options. You can ■
Switch users
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Log off
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Lock the computer
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Restart
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Sleep
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Hibernate
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Shut down
The Sleep versus Hibernate issue is bizarre. According to Vista help, Sleep was created to combine Stand By and Hibernate. However, Vista keeps Hibernate (which saves your work) as well as Sleep.
Start menu properties Like in Windows XP, you can unleash the power of the Windows Start menu by right-clicking the Start button and choosing Properties (shown in Figure 4.23). This includes yet another Search box, as well as the other Properties tabs. Although the content is primarily the same, the layout has changed significantly from Windows XP.
Inside Scoop
Inside Scoop Though it looks like the Run command is no longer available in Windows Vista, it still is! In the Start menu properties, click Customize and select the Run command from near the bottom of the list. Once you apply your change, it appears in the Start menu.
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Figure 4.23. The Start menu properties.
There are now four tabs, instead of two. They are ■
Taskbar. The Taskbar tab lets you set the appearance of the taskbar or set preferences unique to the taskbar. These are similar to Windows XP.
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Start Menu. You can choose between the Start menu and the Classic Start menu, as well as choose privacy settings. You can also indicate whether or not you want recently opened files or programs to appear. If you choose the Classic Start menu, a Configure... button appears next to the Classic Start menu radio button; this window allows you to set parameters and preferences for the Start menu. If you really are not into the new Start menu navigation and want to go back to the multiple menus that take up most of your screen, use the Classic Start menu option (shown in Figure 4.24).
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Notification Area. The Notification Area tab lets you determine how icons and system icons are handled. This is the equivalent of the Customize Notifications window in the Windows XP Taskbar tab. You can set whether or not to display inactive icons and which icons to show (Clock, Volume, Network, and Power — if applicable). You can use the Customize button to set how individual icons should appear (or not).
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Toolbars. This tab lets you determine which toolbars to add to the taskbar. These include the Address, Windows Media Player, Links, Tablet PC Input Panel, Desktop, and Quick Launch toolbars.
Figure 4.24. The (shudder) Classic Start menu.
Personally, we much prefer the new Start menu to the Classic Start menu. However, if you long for the Windows 2000 days, the Classic Start menu is available. There are no real advantages or disadvantages in this case; it’s purely a question of personal preference. We much prefer the Start menu navigation so we use the new Start menu. Though it is considerably different from the old way of doing things, we found that the new Start menu was very easy to warm up to and didn’t really find ourselves missing the old way. Remember, no one way is the right way! If you find that you tire of one Start menu, you can always change it!
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Introducing the Windows Sidebar Microsoft is unleashing the unwieldy Windows Sidebar with Vista (shown in Figure 4.25). As users who always have too many windows open on their screens, we can’t possibly imagine running a wide sidebar that eats up about two inches of the screen. However, we have to admit that as we tested the Sidebar for this book, some of the gadgets are pretty neat. We believe that Microsoft got their inspiration for this from the sidebar that Microsoft Office used to have. Most likely, it was created as a place to use their gadgets (which we will discuss later in this chapter).
Figure 4.25. The Windows Sidebar.
By default, Windows Vista loads with the Sidebar. This is literally a bar that appears on the side of your screen. At the moment, we are using the Sidebar to get a better understanding of how it works. Our Sidebar configuration contains the following items: a picture viewer that allows us to
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view reduced size images from our photo gallery, a clock, and an RSS reader that is available in Internet Explorer 7. You can add gadgets (the official, yet generic, term for the three items listed above) by clicking the plus (+) sign at the top of the Sidebar. An applet appears with four screens of gadgets (13 in total) that you can add by double-clicking the icon, by right-clicking it and selecting Add, or by dragging and dropping to the Sidebar (see Figure 4.26). If you click on a gadget, a brief description appears at the bottom of the applet. You can find more gadgets online by clicking on the so-named link in the applet. There is even a search feature that works just like the Search box in the Start menu. You can search all available gadgets, recently installed gadgets, or Microsoft Corporation. The Search box in the Add Gadgets window seems to work like the other Search features in Windows Vista, where you can simply type a letter or a combination of letters and the corresponding gadget is displayed.
Figure 4.26. The Add Gadget window.
If you right-click on an area of the Sidebar not occupied by a gadget, you can perform a number of tasks. These include bringing the gadgets to the front, adding gadgets, hiding the Sidebar, and setting properties. These properties include whether or not the Sidebar should always appear on top of other windows, whether it should start when Windows loads, which side of the screen it is on, and on which monitor it should appear (if you have multiple monitors). You can also View Gadgets,
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which displays a list of currently installed gadgets. You can also remove them from the View Gadget window. Finally, you can also exit the Sidebar from this menu. If you right-click on any of the gadgets, a number of common features appear. These are adding gadgets, bringing gadgets to the front, removing or moving gadgets, detaching the gadget from the Sidebar, and setting the opacity. You can make a gadget virtually transparent by setting the opacity level to 20 percent. Some, but not all, gadgets have a Settings property on the right-click menu. The Settings menu changes depending on the gadget. You can also use the icons to the right of each gadget, which let you close, open, or move the gadget. Overall, while it is a fairly interesting feature, it simply uses too much screen real estate for our liking. This is a feature that looks like it is enjoying its 15 minutes of fame, especially since rivals at Google have released a similar feature to give Microsoft a run for their money. Many users may still enjoy this feature, especially with the real-time stock ticker, the RSS feed gadget, and other downloadable gadgets.
Using taskbars and toolbars Now that we’ve talked a bit about the taskbar and system tray, let’s take a closer look at how you can make these two essential items work for you. Most of us aren’t using large screens, so it’s important to maximize your screen real estate and make every bit count.
Taming the taskbar By default, the Windows taskbar appears horizontally at the bottom of the screen. It’s safe to say that a very, very large majority of users probably never move the position of the taskbar, let alone know that they can! To do this, right-click on an empty area of the taskbar and make sure that Lock the Taskbar is not checked. Simply drag (from an unused area) and drop the taskbar as you please (see Figure 4.27). Keep in mind that the taskbar can only be on a border — either at the left or right of the screen or at the top or bottom. If you opt for the sides, this can help you reduce button crunch, which occurs when the bar is in the default position and you have a large number of open windows. When this happens, it’s hard or impossible to tell what you are looking at. Though you cannot alter the length of the taskbar, you can make it as wide or narrow as desired.
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Figure 4.27. The taskbar can also appear vertically.
Another valuable aid is to replace desktop icons with Quick Launch buttons. These are a series of one-click buttons that appear to the immediate right of the Start menu. These are frequently used applications that can be launched quickly and easily. After you have your Quick Launch menu set to your liking, you can make room on your desktop by deleting any icons that are now available in this taskbar. If you are really interested in saving screen real estate, you
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Hint You can drag any file, folder, or application to the Quick Launch portion of the taskbar and customize your Quick Launch toolbar.
can always select auto-hide from the Taskbar properties, which you can access by right-clicking the taskbar and selecting Properties.
Customizing toolbars Like Windows XP, Windows Vista features a number of toolbars for you to use. When first activated, they appear on the existing toolbar; you can drag them on to your desktop, creating separate windows. If necessary, you may need to increase the size of the taskbar. These toolbars include Address, Windows Media Player, Links, Tablet PC Input Panel, Desktop, and Quick Launch. There is also a New toolbar button that allows you to create a new toolbar based on an existing folder. Here is a close look at these toolbars: ■
Address. This is the most practical toolbar of the six offered. Using this toolbar, you can type or paste in a URL. The default browser launches and navigates to your URL.
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Windows Media Player. This one is a real mystery, given that there is a Quick Launch button (which Microsoft assumes we wanted) a few inches down the screen. There is no true added value to this toolbar.
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Links. This toolbar displays your Links folder from your list of Favorites — for Internet Explorer. This isn’t very helpful if you don’t put your links in folders other than Links; it’s also not very helpful if you’re using Firefox.
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Tablet PC Input Panel. This is a practical toolbar for Tablet PC users. It allows you to write notes, among other things.
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Desktop. This is another odd choice. It features a number of buttons that could be as easily reached another way, and more conveniently!
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Quick Launch. This is another useful toolbar. Quick Launch allows you to add any program, document, or URL for easy access.
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Inside Scoop For some reason, Microsoft keeps assuming that it knows what we want, and what we want are multiple ways of accessing Windows Media Player and Outlook. If you feel that you can reach them without Microsoft’s help, simply delete them!
You can use drag and drop in the taskbar to reorder the toolbars. Of course, if you decide you that you want to remove a toolbar, simply rightclick and go back to the toolbar and click Close toolbar or deselect the name of the toolbar from the list of toolbars (shown in Figure 4.28).
Figure 4.28. The taskbar can display various toolbars.
All systems are go: The notification area The notification area is found at the far right end of the taskbar; it is also known as the system tray as this is where many system-related icons appear. Officially, Microsoft refers to this space as the notification area because when something goes wrong, this is where you find out. We’ve found the notification area to be slightly annoying at times because it tries to be too helpful. For example, when you log on, you are bombarded by a number of pop-up screens offering help in figuring out why the computer didn’t shut down properly. Nine times out of ten, it has been about something insignificant. It offers more unsolicited advice than a mother-in-law! This area has another purpose besides annoying users; many applications store icons here. These icons let you quickly access or set preferences for applications. Many of them are loaded by applets at startup, while others wait here when minimized instead of using up valuable taskbar space. Perhaps you find that too many icons are in the notification area for your liking. You can reduce their presence by right-clicking on the Inside Scoop
Inside Scoop A backup icon appears in the notification area the first time you run Windows Vista.
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Hack If you are comfortable with tweaking Windows settings, there is a way to get rid of the notification area. From the Start menu Search box, type gpedit.msc and browse to User Configuration Administrative Template Start Menu and Taskbar. Change the policy in the Hide the notification area to Enabled and reboot.
notification area and selecting Properties. Don’t click on any icons. Try to find an empty area, though difficult; you can also right-click the clock to get to the Properties menu. This displays the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties (which you can also reach by right-clicking the Start button and clicking Properties). There are two groups of icons you can set: (standard) icons and system icons (shown in Figure 4.29). For icons, you can opt to hide inactive icons. If you click Customize..., you can manually set the behavior of current and past items. You can hide the icon, show it, or hide it when inactive. If you hide icons, they are replaced by a leftfacing arrow; if you click it, these icons reappear. You can hide them again by clicking the arrow (now right facing) again. For system icons, you can select ones to show from a list of four. By default, all are checked (except Power, which is dimmed). Two other ways to reduce the number of icons are to tell applications not to use the notification area (when minimizing or simply running), and to reduce the number of applets that load at startup. Some options, like media players, give you the option of minimizing to the taskbar or the notification area. Some, like Windows Live Messenger, don’t give you any option; for these applications, you must use the latter option.
Figure 4.29. The notification area lets you manage icons and system icons.
Creating shortcuts There’s no change in how shortcuts work in Windows Vista, so let’s just have a quick recap. If you are trying to create a shortcut for a file or folder, right-click and click Create Shortcut. A dialog box appears indicating that you cannot create a shortcut in that location and offers to place it on the desktop. Go for it. A folder icon appears on the desktop
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with an arrow, indicating that it is a shortcut. If you’d like to rename the icon, simply right-click the shortcut icon and type in a new name. If you are trying to create a shortcut for an application, you have two options. By right-clicking the application icon, you can either create a shortcut (by clicking the so-named menu), or you can select the Pin to Start Menu option. If you choose the latter, the application shortcut will appear in the upper-left part of the Start menu. However, it will not appear on the desktop. You must also select Create Shortcut in order for it to appear there. We like to maintain a clean, orderly desktop, so we either avoid shortcuts or only pin applications to the Start menu. However, shortcuts are a great way to access often-used files and folders. They can be a real timesaver, too!
Using the Windows Help system Microsoft drastically changed their Help system in Windows Vista. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, the system is not complete, but we can still give you a good idea of how it works. The Vista online help focuses more on accomplishing tasks rather than the principles of how things work. Microsoft has also taken the wise step of regularly updating its Help contents. What prompted Microsoft to revamp its online help system? We don’t know. However, experience shows that Microsoft’s documentation is primarily limited to their online help systems plus knowledge base or technical articles on their Web site. This new online help system certainly offers a wider variety of support options for solving any problems, notably in part to Vista’s ability to search support on the Internet. The new online help has a completely different layout and color scheme (see Figure 4.30). Unlike the Windows XP help, Vista offers a more interactive Help system. For starters, the icons work in Windows Vista. The Find an answer section has six icons representing different areas of Help. Each one features section-appropriate help topics or information on Windows Vista. This streamlined interface lets the online help breathe easier, thereby making the user feel less attacked. The online help and support in Windows XP had too much small text on the opening page; as a user, we often felt overwhelmed and not really interested in using it.
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Figure 4.30. The Windows Vista online help is a vast improvement.
Windows Vista help also features a search feature where you can ask a question or type in a keyword. Like XP, you can continue to use Remote Assistance, which allows you to get help from a friend, or post to Windows communities. Another new feature is that you can now contact Microsoft Customer Support, as well as access other support options. These other support options include the knowledge base, Windows communities, or even Microsoft support phone numbers! Icons across the top allow you to return to the help starting point, print online help topics, browse the help (which is similar to past versions), or expand your search. The Options menu allows you to set text size and use options similar to the aforementioned icons. The Settings menu lets you decide whether or not to include Windows Assistance Online. This feature allows you to have the latest help files and updates if you’re connected to the Internet. The help is fairly informative, but it should be even better once completed. Even better, it’s considerably more responsive and loads much
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faster than Windows XP help. Documentation hasn’t always been Microsoft’s strong point, that’s why these books exist. But we think that the revamped online help system is good. The potential turnoff is that it contains much more text than previous Windows help systems. Finding a quick detail by skimming may not be possible now.
Working with Ease of Access Microsoft made great strides in improving accessibility so that all users can enjoy Windows Vista. To that end, Vista introduces the Ease of Access Center. The Ease of Access Center is available in two different locations: ■
The Control Panel, under Ease of Access
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The logon screen, represented by a round, blue icon in the bottomleft corner of the screen
To be fair, these buttons aren’t exactly the same — the Control Panel option is great for setting accessibility options, while the logon screen lets you determine which accessibility features to enable (see Figure 4.31).
Figure 4.31. You can enable accessibility features from the logon screen or the Control Panel.
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In the Ease of Access window on the logon screen, you can enable the following features: ■
Narrator. This feature lets you hear text on your screen; it is read using a machine-reader.
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Magnifier. This feature magnifies the size of on-screen objects.
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High Contrast. This feature displays greater contrast in displayed colors.
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On-Screen Keyboard. This feature displays a mini-keyboard on your screen so that you can use your mouse to “type” by selecting letters as opposed to typing.
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Sticky keys. This feature lets you use keyboard shortcuts one key at a time.
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Filter keys. This feature lets you ignore additional keystrokes if you press a key multiple times.
Any of these features can be activated simply by selecting their respective check box and clicking Apply and then OK. On the other hand, if you select Ease of Access from the Control Panel, you can immediately let Windows suggest settings or manually optimize the visual display. If you click Ease of Access, you can access the Ease of Access Center to set Speech Recognition options. The Ease of Access Center in the Control Panel has considerably more options than its counterpart on the logon screen (shown in Figure 4.32). It provides quick access to frequently used tools, which are the Magnifier, Narrator, On-Screen Keyboard, and High Contrast. If you select one of these tools (just click one), a second window appears for you to set up the feature (shown in Figure 4.33). If you are new to working with accessibility tools, Vista is very helpful in this regard. You can use the Get recommendations to make your computer easier to use link for advice on going about setting up your computer. Of course, you can also move down to the Explore all settings area of the Ease of Access Center. This lets you set specific settings for a number of accessibility features. What we like about this section is that Microsoft has taken a very direct approach to helping you set up your system. Instead of beating around the bush or using confusing terminology, Microsoft uses true descriptions of the features so that users can easily and directly access the desired feature. For example, the Make the keyboard easier to use feature does just that.
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Figure 4.32. The Ease of Access Center from the Control Panel.
Figure 4.33. The Ease of Access Center is easy to use and easy to set up.
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The Ease of Access Center also lets you change administrative settings so that all settings are applied to the logon desktop. If you go back to the Control Panel, you can also set up the Speech Recognition tool (shown in Figure 4.34).
Figure 4.34. The Speech Recognition tool.
The Speech Recognition tool lets you set up a number of properties for your computer to work with Speech Recognition. This feature lets you use your voice to control your computer and act as your vocal mouse and keyboard. We recommend reading the Speech Tutorial, which is available from this page, before using this feature. You can also train your computer to better work with your voice. Microsoft also provides a link to the Microsoft Speech Online Community, which is a nice resource for finding out more about speech tools and getting feature support. You can also set Text to Speech properties for controlling the type of voice, its speed, as well as setting more advanced options, such as audio output devices. You can also set up Speech Recognition profiles (see Figure 4.35) so that your computer can recognize a different voice or noise environment. For example, you can have a profile for when you are working at home, and perhaps another for when you are at the office.
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Figure 4.35. Speech Recognition profiles help you organize your voice accessibility options.
Working with gadgets As we discuss earlier, Windows Vista now features fully integrateable gadgets. Gadgets are small applications that provide information or services, and are designed to enhance the user experience. They can deliver information such as business data, current weather conditions, radio streams, RSS feeds, slide shows, or even traffic maps! Three types of gadgets are available: ■
Desktop gadgets: These gadgets can be run from the Windows desktop or the Windows Sidebar.
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Web gadgets: These gadgets run on Web sites, such as Live.com or Start.com.
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Windows SideShow gadgets: These gadgets run on auxiliary displays, for example, on mobile phones, using Windows SideShow.
Gadgets are created using dynamic HTML or .NET and are relatively easy to create (if you know these languages). The choice of programming languages is most likely why these gadgets are popular among programmers. The Web site www.microsoftgadgets.com features up-to-date information on Microsoft gadgets as well as gadget downloads.
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Is it Live(.com)? Microsoft came up with an interesting way of bundling services — put them online and integrate them. With that idea in mind, Microsoft launched the Live.com Web site in November 2005. At the moment, Live.com is still in Beta, but eventually it will integrate services such as Hotmail, MSN Messenger, and antivirus software. Microsoft also plans on making Windows Live and Office Live available through this Web site; this is free software that is available online. Literally, you could go to the Web site and use a browser-based version of Microsoft Word for free to write a letter. This Web site can also take advantage of gadgets, using them in your customized Live.com to enhance your experience. It reminds us of a new Web presence for Microsoft, as if they’re trying to make us forgive and forget the whole Passport fiasco! In its current incarnation, it looks like a cross between a blog and Microsoft SharePoint (see Figure 4.36). Live.com is also the default Web site when you open Internet Explorer 7.
Figure 4.36. The Live.com Web site.
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Tweaking your Vista experience Even though Windows Vista is barely out the door, that hasn’t stopped third-party software developers from coming up with a number of new tweak applications designed for use with Windows Vista. Tweak tools are designed to help you customize your Windows interface (and overall experience) by “customizing” Vista in ways not easily accessible or made readily available by Microsoft (see Figure 4.37). There’s nothing wrong in doing this; in fact, Microsoft released their own TweakUI tool with Windows XP’s PowerToys. Of course, not every aspect of Windows Vista can be tweaked. Some of the items that can be tweaked include ■
User Account Protection
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Internet Explorer 7 Search engines
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DWM
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Bootloader information
Some of the early tweak applications already on the market include TweakVista (www.tweakvista.com/tweakvistautility/) and VistaBootPRO (www.vistabootpro.org/). Remember that these are third-party applications that are not guaranteed by Microsoft and should be used at their own risk.
Figure 4.37. TweakVista lets you make a number of interface updates without the hassle of trying to getting lost in Vista.
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Using Windows Update The Windows Update feature has been redesigned to be faster and more discreet, and to let you choose the best time to reboot your machine. This feature is particularly nice as the constant reminder in Windows XP always annoyed us. What else is new in Windows Update? First, the feature is a lot more convenient. For starters, Windows Update is now run from a window in Windows Vista and not from a Web browser, which was the case in Windows XP. If you are used to using Windows XP, you know that you could only automatically download and install High Priority updates. Recommended updates had to be manually downloaded and installed. In Vista, you can decide to manage both High Priority and recommended updates (shown in Figure 4.38).
Figure 4.38. The Windows Update window lets you configure how your system is updated.
Vista is much more discrete in terms of updating your system. Previously, the download and install screen often took control of your desktop and you had to wait until it was finished. In Vista, downloads and
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updates occur in the background. Vista also gives you flexibility in terms of having to reboot your computer. If a download affects a file or application that you are using, Vista saves your work and then restarts the application. From the Windows Update menu in the Security section of the Control Panel, you can update with the click of a button. This page indicates the last time you checked for updates as well as the content of the last update. This page also indicates whether or not you are using Automatic Updates. To set this last option, open the Change settings window from the left side of the screen. The Change settings window lets you determine how you want updates installed. You can either install updates automatically (in which case you can decide when and how often), download updates without automatic installation, check for updates without downloading them, or never check for updates. The final option allows you to decide whether or not Windows Update should include recommended updates or simply manage High Priority updates. From the Windows Update window, you can also perform other tasks, such as: ■
Force a check update
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Change Windows Update settings
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View update history
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Restore hidden updates
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View FAQs in the online help
The Extras page is an interesting page, as it tells you about additional programs, content, and services available for your edition of Windows Vista (see Figure 4.39). For example, these include applications and online publications to help improve your Vista experience. When you perform a Windows update, you will notice that the main screen performs two simultaneous updates: Windows updates and Windows Extras. Depending on your comfort level with Microsoft updating your computer, the automatic update feature can be quite convenient. It’s very easy to forget to update your computer, an oversight which can prove dangerous due to virus and spyware concerns.
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Figure 4.39. Windows Ultimate Extras can help improve your Ultimate edition performance.
Add, move, or change Windows components The Change or remove a program feature hasn’t evolved in terms of capabilities, though the interface certainly is different as is the name. This feature is now referred to as the Uninstall or change a program window. The jury is still out on the changes. Here’s what we like: Applications are presented in a clear, easy to follow format. At the bottom of the Uninstall or change a program window, the number of installed programs, as well as the total file size for these programs, is displayed (see Figure 4.40). Windows XP conveniently allows you to add features (formerly called components) from the same window where you could uninstall software. This is no longer the case in Vista. Now, if you wish to work with Windows components, you must access the Programs section of the Control Panel. In the Installed Programs section, click Turn Windows features on or off. Notice that Windows doesn’t talk about adding or removing (or even installing or uninstalling) components; the term is now “turning on or
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off.” The Windows Features window (shown in Figure 4.41) lets you turn a feature on or off simply by clicking the desired feature. If the feature has a plus (+) sign in front of it, that means it can be expanded. If you select an expandable check box, all options are selected. If you only want to pick certain features from an expandable box, expand it and manually pick your desired feature.
Figure 4.40. Windows Vista lets you know how many applications you have installed.
Figure 4.41. The Windows Features window lets you choose which Windows features to keep.
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If you simply want to modify an installed application, you must click the Installed Programs or Uninstall a program link. They lead to the same thing. This feature, unlike in Windows XP, now looks like a standard Windows Vista folder, including Organize and Views menus (see Figure 4.42). Click the desired program, and the toolbar changes depending on your options. You may be able to remove, repair, or change a program. Unlike previous versions, in Vista, you can view installed updates in a separate window, buy programs online from Windows Marketplace, view purchased software, or turn Windows features on/off. This last feature is one that may confuse readers. Because it’s rather discreet, many users might not recognize that this is where you actually add/remove Windows components (shown in Figure 4.43)!
Figure 4.42. The Uninstall or Change a Program Window program window toolbar changes when you click an application.
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Figure 4.43. You can still add or remove Windows components.
Manage applications with Task Manager The Task Manager is still the same old boy it’s always been. In fact, the only changes we’ve noticed since Windows XP are the loss of icon sizing options in the View menu and the suppression of the Shut Down menu. The Task Manager (shown in Figure 4.44) provides a gold mine of information about the current state or health of Windows. More often than not, you can use Task Manager to shut down a program that crashes (it no longer responds).
Figure 4.44. Task Manager, Vista style.
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There are three ways of launching Task Manager. You can ■
Right-click the taskbar and select Task Manager.
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Use the Ctrl+Shift+Esc key combination.
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Use the Ctrl+Alt+Delete key combination and select Task Manager.
Click the Applications tab and you see a list of all running applications on your system and each application’s status. If the program has crashed and has stopped responding, Task Manager displays “Not Responding” next to the application name. Click the unresponsive application in Task Manager and click End Task. Sometimes the application closes immediately; sometimes a system notification appears indicating that “This program is not responding.” Click End Now or wait for Windows to get fed up and close it for you. Sometimes, you may do both and the application won’t close. Wait it out or reboot if this happens. On occasion, it’s not an application that goes haywire, but a system process. This often happens with poorly written device drivers or services related to hardware that are running around, listening for a response, but not smart enough to figure out that the hardware isn’t responding. When this happens, the CPU usage (found in the Performance tab) usually rockets up to 100 percent. Click the Processes tab (see Figure 4.45) and find the process that is consuming all or most of the CPU cycles. Click the process and then click End Process; most of the time, this is sufficient to put down the misbehaving process.
Figure 4.45. The Processes tab lets you find out what is using all your system resources.
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There are times, however, when the process won’t be or can’t be killed. Unlike UNIX-based systems, there is no way to log on as root and have ultimate control over what happens. Windows protects some processes even if you think they should be ended. A third-party program called Process Explorer is very effective for ending these processes and also provides far greater detail on your processes. For current compatibility, go to the Process Explorer Web site at www.sysinternals.com.
Backwards compatibility Windows Vista has certainly made an effort in terms of guaranteeing compatibility between Windows and third-party applications. In fact, at the time of writing, Microsoft has already tested over 800 applications with Vista. They’ve also taken a few other steps to assure the highest level of compatibility: ■
The Program Compatibility Assistant makes basic compatibility changes for Vista.
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The Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 5 is designed to help you make sure your environment and applications are compatible with Vista, applying fixes for applications that are not Vista ready.
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The Application Compatibility Exchange Web site provides results from software makers and customers. These testing results are designed to help compatibility testing.
The Program Compatibility Assistant finds an appropriate compatibility mode for applications that were designed to run on earlier versions of Windows. For example, if you decided to use an XP application on Vista, the assistant detects this operating system difference and automatically prepares it to run on Vista without further action required by the user. That’s not to say it’s perfect. For example, if you try to install software designed for Windows XP, it may act like it installed properly. Afterwards, a dialog box appears telling you that it has to intervene because of compatibility issues and then “fixes” the problem. Unfortunately, these programs mentioned earlier are not available at the time of writing, so we’ve not been able to test them and see how effective they are. We have noticed the Compatibility Mode when using Microsoft Office 2007 on Vista and saving documents in Windows 2003 format.
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A few more words about the Control Panel We’ve made innumerable references to the Control Panel in Windows Vista, but we’ve not really discussed it in great detail (see Figure 4.46). The Control Panel can be thought of as the glue that ties Windows Vista together. This is your central location for handling pretty much any configuration or setting in the operating system.
Figure 4.46. The Control Panel in Vista picks up where XP left off.
Vista’s Control Panel picks up where it left off in Windows XP; both use the Category View. The advantage of the Category View is that each category is logically arranged; in that respect it’s much better than Windows XP. If you recall, XP offered categories, but no quick links to access commonly used tasks for that category. In Vista, there are a number of quick links. Using this view is also cleaner than using the familiar Classic View, which just lists a seemingly never-ending list of icons. If you’re familiar with the Control Panel in Windows XP, you’ll notice that the categories are similar but not the same. If you use the Classic View, you’ll notice the beefed up Control Panel (see Figure 4.47). In fact, the number of icons passes from 28 icons in
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Windows XP to 49 icons in Windows Vista (or more if you are using a laptop). The number of available tasks for each Category or section is also significantly more important.
Figure 4.47. The Classic View has more icons than ever.
Although this book does not go into every new task or feature in the Windows Control Panel, the following list covers some of the most important additions: ■
AutoPlay (this lets you change default settings for reading CDs and DVDs)
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BitLocker Drive Encryption (this lets you configure the new BitLocker Driver Encryption feature)
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Color Management (this lets you determine how graphics and displays should appear)
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iSCSI Initiator (this lets you connect to remote iSCSI targets and to apply settings to connections)
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Offline Files (this lets you set how offline files should be managed when you are off the network)
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Problem Reports and Solutions (this lets you check online for solutions to system malfunctions and other errors)
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Sync Center (this lets you manage synchronization between your computer and other devices)
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Windows CardSpace (this lets you manage stored logins and passwords for Web sites)
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Windows Defender (this lets you directly access the new Windows Defender application)
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Windows Sidebar (this lets you configure the new Windows Sidebar application)
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Windows SideShow (this lets you configure the new Windows SideShow application)
As you adapt to Windows Vista, you will gradually discover and learn all these new additions to the Control Panel and their possibilities. While it’s true that some tasks can be difficult to find on occasion, it’s overall a much better experience for the user.
Judgment day Windows Vista has a greatly improved desktop experience that should please many users. While it certainly won’t please everyone, and it’s far from being a perfect operating system, we feel that Microsoft has greatly improved the product. Naysayers will posit that Aero simply looks too much like Mac OS X and its Aqua environment. It’s hard to deny the similarities, from the transparency to the icon attributes. While we find the various warnings and access request dialog boxes tiresome at best, intrusive at worst, we find Vista to be an overall positive experience. Who will get the most benefit out of the Windows Vista desktop? Users who: ■
Require efficiency or wish to be more productive
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Previously had trouble locating applications
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Have a graphic card that supports Windows Vista Aero
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Always felt earlier Windows versions loaded applications too slowly. Who won’t benefit much from the Windows Vista desktop?
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Users who: ■
Are Vista Capable, but not Premium
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Are not impressed with graphic enhancements
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Use Vista in their office and aren’t using Aero
Just the facts ■
Nearly every facet of the Windows basic look and feel can be configured.
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Additional wallpapers, themes, and icons can be added to further customize Windows.
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Windows gadgets and Sidebars can be used together to enhance the user experience
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The Windows Vista online help system is more responsive, more informative, and easier to use.
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The Ease of Access Center is the central location for setting up accessibility features.
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Windows Vista makes every effort to guarantee compatibility with software (even those designed for previous versions of Windows).
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Manage the Vista Enviroment
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ike in Windows XP, users are a very important part of Windows Vista. You can think of a user as an account — a unique identifier created just for you that provides you with certain rights and restrictions while using Windows Vista. There are three types of accounts in Windows Vista: Administrator, Standard user, and Guest. Figure 5.1 shows the User Accounts window. If you are familiar with Windows XP, then you will have no problems understanding account types in Windows Vista: Each account has the same roles; however, the Limited user in XP is now Standard user in Vista. In this chapter, we cover the need for users and how they are used in Windows Vista. If you are a computer owner who is responsible for its upkeep, or have children who should not have full administrator rights, then this chapter is of particular interest. We will also disclose important new features such as the User Account Control (UAC).
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GET THE SCOOP ON... Adding users ■ Modifying accounts ■ Group membership ■ Fast user switching ■ Custom Management Consoles ■ Taskpad views ■ Group policies
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Figure 5.1. The User Accounts window.
The case for users Maintaining separate user accounts for different users is a good idea on several levels. First, if you are the administrator for a particular computer, you will want to know who is using your machine. For security reasons, you may opt to disable a guest account and require all users to login using a custom created user account that is set according to the user’s particular needs. If you are using a work computer, you’ll want to make sure that you (along with an IT person) have administrator rights so that you can manage your computer; by the same token, you would want a colleague to have guest or standard user rights for security purposes. Not every user has the same needs. For example, you may have a piece of software installed that only the system administrator needs to use. You can make that application only available to a particular user or just the administrator (or installer). Perhaps one of your children is a gamer. You may want to limit access to the game so as not to risk erasing or corrupting the game. Hiding applications is not a foolproof method:
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The application is still installed to your disk, making it possible for others to access it. Although the icon might not be available, it can still be manually launched. Privacy is another issue to consider. Perhaps you, as administrator, have a number of personal or work documents or shortcuts to system tools on your desktop and do not wish for these files to be accessible by other users. By creating a separate user account for others, you have guaranteed privacy of your desktop. Even though you can share applications with other users, they cannot access your files. Speaking of files, did we mention that each user gets a Documents folder (see Figure 5.2)? This guarantees the privacy of your documents; there is no worry of another user accidentally erasing your documents, provided that they are stored here. Administrators, even if you eventually delete a user account, you can opt to not delete that user’s Documents folder.
Figure 5.2. The Documents window.
Watch Out! The My Documents folder (as well as My Pictures, My Music, and so on) drops the My in Windows Vista. They are now simply referred to as Documents, Music, Pictures, and so on.
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Inside Scoop In the past, the My folders were found within the My Documents folder. These folders are now independent; each one is a separate folder found in the user directory per user account.
Another advantage of having separate user accounts is that each user can set options for folders, desktop settings, or Internet Explorer settings that are unique for their user account. Depending on your setup, creating user accounts can be either simple or potentially confusing. If you are a home user, setting up a user account is as easy as clicking a button in the Control Panel and working with a wizard. On the other hand, if you are a professional user who is using Windows Vista over an office network and working over a domain, you must create a domain user account and not a local user account (like you would for home use). If you are using a workgroup, you must create the same user account on any computer that you will be using. You should also determine what kind of account type you want. When you installed Windows Vista, you created an initial account for your computer. By default, this account was given Administrator status. You may want to create a second account for yourself, or perhaps for a friend or relative. In this case, we advise that you give these users Standard user access. Standard user accounts have many of the same privileges as the Administrator; however, any changes made are not system-wide. This prevents unauthorized users who do not or should not have Administrator access from doing things they should not, such as changing passwords.
Add an account Adding an account is a mandatory step when installing Windows Vista; adding additional accounts, however, is optional yet highly recommended for the reasons discussed previously. Watch Out! Make sure that you are logged in as an Administrator before attempting to add a new account. Standard users are unable to perform this function.
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The first step to creating a new user account for Windows Vista is to access the Control Panel. The best way to get there is to access it from the Start menu on the right-hand column. Otherwise, you can go to System Tools in the Accessories menu (also starting from the Start menu). After you open Control Panel, double-click User Accounts and Family Safety (see Figure 5.3).
Figure 5.3. The User Accounts and Family Safety window in the Control Panel.
The Shield icon As you may have noticed, a number of options in the Control Panel are preceded by a multicolored shield (Figure 5.4). The purpose of the shield is unclear, and the lack of any key also adds to the confusion. The icon looks similar to the Windows Defender application icon, but this is not its purpose. Any option preceded by this icon simply means that it requires the user’s permission to use the program in question. You can either allow or cancel this request (which appears in a dialog box). (continued)
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(continued)
This feature is obviously a response to those who have long since criticized Microsoft of being weak on security. Unfortunately, it is a bit reactionary; we’ve lost count of how many times we have had to click and approve an action before getting something accomplished. This is part of the new User Account Control. However, there is a workaround for disabling this omnipresent warning dialog box: 1. From the Search box in the Start menu, type gpedit.msc. 2. In the console, go to Computer Configuration Windows Settings Security Settings Local Policies Security Options. 3. Change User Account Control: Run all users including Administrators as standard users to Disable. 4. Change User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt to No Prompt.
The User Accounts menu looks very similar to its counterpart in Windows XP; the primary difference is that the Vista menu is cleaner in its design. The window is broken into two primary regions; the left side of the window offers additional, but related, options. These options are detailed a little later in this chapter. The right side of the window contains the options relevant to User Accounts. If you are going to add a new account, you must first click the Manage another account link.
Figure 5.4. One of the many occurrences of the ubiquitous security shield.
After you have given Windows Vista permission to access this window, click on the Create a new account option in the Manage Accounts page (see Figure 5.5). If you are unfamiliar with the concept of a user account, a help link will be available explaining the three types of user accounts.
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Figure 5.5. The Manage Accounts window.
If you opted to create a new account, the Create New Account window appears. Windows asks you to name the account (see Figure 5.6). Pick something that clearly indicates that either this account is yours or it belongs to a specific user. Remember that whatever name you give here will be visible to anyone who tries to log on to this computer. After you name the account, you must decide whether or not this user account should have standard or administrator access. This page also features a help link designed to help you decide which type of account to use. Overall, the Administrator and Standard user accounts have many similar features and functions; the primary difference is that the Standard user cannot make system-wide changes. We would recommend setting most other accounts (other than your own) to Standard user. Too many Administrators can increase the chances of your computer being modified. Inside Scoop
Inside Scoop Of all the new changes in Windows Vista, one thing that has not changed is the maximum number of characters for account names. You are still limited to 20 characters, including special characters, such as accents.
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Figure 5.6. Naming the account is the first step to creating an account.
After you have created your account, you are taken back to the Manage Accounts window that now contains your new account and displays its name, default picture, and account type (see Figure 5.7). You can always go back and add as many accounts with varying account types as desired. Like in Windows XP, you need to work with Group accounts in order to have full access over Standard user accounts. We discuss this feature later in the chapter. Hack Remember the third account type, Guest? Well, it is still an option! You cannot create a guest account, it already is created. However, you can activate or disable it (it is inactive by default). Simply click on the Guest account to start the quick activation procedure.
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Figure 5.7. The Manage Accounts window with new account.
Modify user accounts Now that you have created your account, you may want to go back and make changes to it. Perhaps you decided to give a trustworthy user Administrator access or you wanted to modify an account name or picture. From the Control Panel, which is still accessible as detailed above, you should reopen the User Accounts window to make any necessary edits. Of course, just like when you create a new account, you must also have Administrator access when modifying user accounts. From the User Accounts window, click Manage another account from your account’s task list so that you can select which account you wish to update. The account parameters that you can modify depend on the user account type (see Figure 5.8). If you are modifying an Administrator account, you can modify the following: ■
Account name
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Account password (create or modify)
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Picture
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Watch Out! The User Accounts page lets you enable or disable the User Account Control (UAC) feature; it is not available from the Manage Accounts window.
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Account type
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Parental Controls
Figure 5.8. The editable Administrator account features.
If you have another Administrator account on your computer, you can use the Delete the account option. However, if you have only one Administrator account, this option does not appear. This is the minor difference between the two type of accounts in terms of change management. If you attempt to modify a Standard user account, you can modify the following (see Figure 5.9): ■
Account name
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Account password (create or modify)
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Picture
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Figure 5.9. The editable Standard user account features.
Both Administrator and Standard user accounts let you set Parental Control settings. You can also set Parental Controls from the User Accounts page; it is available as a link at the bottom left pane of the window. This pane also features a number of more advanced tasks that you might be likely to use as a Windows administrator (see Figure 5.10). These include the following: ■
Create a password reset disk
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Manage network passwords
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Manage file encryption certificates
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Configure advanced user profile properties
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Change environment variables
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Figure 5.10. The available tasks for an administrator.
Changing your account name Changing your account name is as simple as clicking a link in either the User Accounts or Change an Account window. Simply do the following: 1. Click the Change the account name link. 2. Type the new name of your account. Remember that you can only use up to 20 characters! 3. Click Change Name. The new name appears on the Welcome screen and in the Start menu. This option is available for both Administrator and Standard user accounts (see Figure 5.11).
Create a password for your account If you decide to password protect your account, or another account, this is the place to do it (see Figure 5.12). Whether you are creating a password for the first time, or changing an existing password, it makes no difference. In this window, you start from scratch.
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Figure 5.11. The Change Your Name window.
Figure 5.12. The Change Your Password window.
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Watch Out! Any EFS-encrypted files, passwords, or personal certificates are lost when you create a new password. To avoid this, create a password reset floppy disk from the User Accounts window.
1. Click Create password from the Change an Account window (or create a password for your account in User Accounts). 2. Enter a new password. 3. Confirm the new password by typing it again. 4. Type a password hint. Remember that your password hint is visible to anyone using your computer. 5. Click Create password. After the new password is created, you automatically return to the Account management page. This page will have slightly changed because a new menu option is available: Remove the password. If you select this option, you remove the password currently set for the account. This does not require you to re-enter the password for validation. However, you will need to enter your password if you decide to remove it from your account. If you have trouble thinking of a good password, you can check out the local help file entitled How to create a strong password found on this
Losing your password If you are using Windows over a network, the number of incorrect password attempts before your account is locked depends on how your system administrator configured your Windows server. For home users, this feature is disabled by default. However, it can be set to prevent password hacking. If you forget your password as a limited access account, you can use the Forgotten Password Wizard or ask the administrator to remove or reset your password. Administrators should use the Forgotten Password Wizard to reset their password. We discuss the use of the Forgotten Password Wizard later in this chapter.
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page. Creating a reasonably secure password is essential; while no password is 100 percent safe, you can take steps to make your password as secure as is reasonably possible. For example, use at least eight characters in your password using a mix of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, or symbols. It is said that no part of your password should be a real word, but let’s be realistic: If you have a bad memory, use a word, a part of a word, or a number that you can recall but isn’t easily attributed to you. For example, it is not a good idea to use your children’s names or a pet name. A password must be something that only you would think of — perhaps a first love, your favorite poet, or your lottery numbers. Passwords are case-sensitive, so do remember where you put those upperand lower-case letters!
Changing your picture One of the easier changes to make, Windows Vista lets you change the randomly assigned image that was associated with your account when it was created. This image appears on the Welcome screen. Click Change your picture from the Account management window (see Figure 5.13).
Figure 5.13. The Change Your Picture window.
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Windows Vista offers 12 preinstalled pictures that you can use. Of course, you can browse for any other pictures on your machine that are in BMP, DIB, RLE, GIF, JPG, or PNG format. Simply click the icon and then click the Change Picture button. You can also click the “Browse for more pictures” link and select your desired picture. Once you select the image, you will return to the Edit Account page with your new picture displayed under the account name.
Changing the account type Windows Vista also allows you the option of changing your account from a Standard user account to an Administrator account (see Figure 5.14) or vice versa. Click Change the account type in the User Accounts window. You are asked to select an account type, just like when you created the account. Accounts can be changed to Standard user or to Administrator accounts as many times as desired; the access privileges are instantaneous. Any administrator account can be deleted, on the condition that there is another administrator account on the machine. If you have a single administrator account, you cannot delete it.
Figure 5.14. The Change Your Account Type window.
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Watch Out! You can downgrade from an Administrator to a Standard user account, but remember that you must have at least one Administrator account on your computer at all times!
Deleting the account Administrators can easily delete any account by selecting the Delete the account option from the User Accounts window. When you select this option, you can either keep or delete the corresponding account files (see Figure 5.15). If you keep the files, Windows Vista will store the deleted account’s Documents folder and desktop in a folder that has the same name as the deleted account to the administrator’s desktop. Standard users, however, can only delete their own account.
Figure 5.15. The Delete Account window.
Watch out! Despite Windows Vista’s generously saving Documents and the desktop for the deleted user account, it is unable to save other vital information such as e-mails, Internet Explorer bookmarks, or system settings.
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When you decide whether to keep or delete the files, Windows XP asks you to confirm the deletion before going forward. Unfortunately, Windows Vista does not provide a gentle reminder that once the account is gone, it’s gone (unless you have a backup). Like the other options, after you execute this command, you return automatically to the User Accounts window.
Working with Parental Controls Windows Vista offers what we deem a new feature, called Parental Controls, though in previous versions of Windows, you could set your Internet Explorer settings to prevent children from going where they shouldn’t. Of course, the Parental Controls offered with Vista go far beyond the IE customization (see Figure 5.16) and offer parents (or computer administrators) total control of what other people see and do on the computer.
Figure 5.16. The Parental Controls page.
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Watch Out! Windows Vista does not allow you to set Parental Controls for any Administrator accounts. If you try to set controls on an Administrator account, Vista asks you to change the account type to Standard user.
The security surrounding Parental Controls and who can set them is somewhat strange. If you don’t have any passwords set for your accounts, any user can get around these controls or even turn them off. Vista gives you two opportunities or warnings that you should really set passwords for an administrator account before setting Parental Controls. We agree that the Administrator should always be password protected; otherwise it sort of defeats the purpose of being an Administrator! We are somewhat surprised that Vista lets Standard users or non-password protected accounts have access to a feature that has such far-reaching effects. In Figure 5.16, you will need to acknowledge that you do not have a password for the account, do not wish to have one, and recognize the potential risks before you can continue. Alternatively, you can always set a password from this screen. If you are editing a Standard user account, you can set a password from the Edit Account page. You can also access the Parental Controls from the Control Panel.
Start to take control! When you open the Parental Controls page, you can select one of your available accounts, illustrated by the picture you chose earlier in this chapter. Remember, you need to have Administrator access to set these — at least for accounts other than your own. The setup page appears when you select your account; this is where you set all the Parental Control parameters, including turning them on or off (see Figure 5.17). By default, Parental Controls settings are off. As a result, all other setting options on this page are dimmed with the exception of Activity Reports. The Activity Reports contain up-to-date information on a wide array of activity criteria. The reports are broken into two themes: account activities and general system. The report names or headers are pretty self-explanatory (see Figure 5.18).
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Figure 5.17. The Parental Controls setup page.
Figure 5.18. The Activity Reporting page.
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After you enable the Parental Controls, you can then decide whether or not to turn on the Activity Reports. By default, Activity Reports are turned off and data is not collected. Getting down to the nitty gritty, it’s time to set your computer up with Parental Controls! Microsoft really lets the Administrator assume the role of Big Brother using the Parental Controls; it certainly does its job. For parents who worry about their children’s online activities, Vista will put their minds at ease. Of course, the amount of security you truly need depends on the user and their personal situation.
Windows Vista Web Filter The Windows Vista Web Filter option lets you block certain Web content that may be inappropriate for some users (see Figure 5.19). You can also manually allow or block specific Web sites. There are four different levels of Web restriction levels, including a custom level. There are also a number of categories of potentially inappropriate subject matter that you can block; this includes hate speech, bomb making, pornography, and Web mail.
Figure 5.19. The Web Filter option lets you block naughty sites from prying eyes.
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If a Web site cannot be rated, you may opt to automatically block the site. The Web Restrictions page also lets you block downloads. There are several onboard help topics on the Web Restrictions page.
Time limits The Time limits option lets you mark off certain hours where a user can use the computer (see Figure 5.20). By dragging and clicking, you can select blocks of time where the computer is blocked to the user. By default, the computer is always available to the user. Users receive a 10minute and a 1-minute warning that their session is about to expire. When it expires, the session is suspended and the login screen appears; the session remains active so that no activities or data are lost.
Figure 5.20. The Parental Controls Time Limits page.
Games The Games option lets you set whether or not the user can access and play games on the computer. By default, all games are accessible to users.
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However, you can set controls that forbid access to games depending on their content and ratings (see Figure 5.21). You can also set a maximum game rating that is allowed. Like with the Web restrictions, you can also manually allow or block games. Back on the main Parental Controls page, you can use the Select a games ratings system link to access a list of international ratings systems. These ratings systems seem to be primarily American and European rating organizations.
Figure 5.21. Games, like television shows, can have age-appropriateness ratings.
Block specific programs This option lets you prevent users from accessing a specific application (see Figure 5.22). By default, the user can access all applications on the computer. However, by enabling this feature, you can select an application to block (such as a personal finance program, for example). When selected, it appears in the window.
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Figure 5.22. Block users from accessing certain applications.
You can also set family safety options from the Parental Controls page. Rather, it’s just an option and not options; this feature simply lets you set the frequency of the report activity availability reminder.
Other Administrator options If you are logged in as the Administrator, there are three other options available to you in the User Accounts page.
Create a password reset disk This feature is just another name for the Forgotten Password Wizard; you may remember this feature from Windows XP. Its use in Windows Vista is completely identical (see Figure 5.23). Let’s review for those who are new to Windows.
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Figure 5.23. The Forgotten Password Wizard with Vista face-lift.
This feature offers Administrator and Standard user accounts to retrieve passwords (beyond the F8 reboot workaround) from a disk. External drives are preferable as they can be salvaged if your computer crashes. This disk, when saved to an external source, should be kept alongside your boot disk or rescue disk. The Forgotten Password Wizard provides two bits of good advice in the opening window: ■
This disk only needs to be created once regardless of how many times you change your password.
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Anyone can access this disk once created; it can be used to reset your password. In other words, be very careful where you leave it!
The next screen of the wizard asks you to insert a blank, formatted disk into drive A. Please refer to your computer for specific drive letters (the drive letter can change depending on your configuration). The next screen asks you to enter the password; simply enter it and click New. The wizard will then create the necessary files and copies to your drive. Watch Out! Before you start using the Forgotten Password Wizard, make sure you have some sort of external device, like a floppy drive or a USB drive, to which you can write. This is necessary in order to use this feature.
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Inside Scoop If you don’t feel like using Microsoft’s Forgotten Password Wizard, you can also keep an encrypted password table (simply a Microsoft Word document) and store it on a CD or a USB flash drive.
There are two unusual things about this wizard: first is its preventive nature, secondly is its very existence — the wizard helps you prepare for eventual password loss, however, it will not help you retrieve a lost password.
Manage your network passwords The Stored User Names and Passwords window is not new to Windows. What is new in Windows Vista is the Backup/Restore feature in this window (see Figure 5.24).
Figure 5.24. The Backup feature.
You can add a Web site, server, or network location and store the relevant username/password for the target. This feature is helpful because you can store login credentials for often used sites or network locations, which saves you the hassle of always having to type everything in. On the other hand, you have the worry of leaving yourself vulnerable if anyone else uses your account and happens upon any of your stored locations.
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Watch Out! Any changes made to the login credentials (for example, adding, removing, or editing) since the last backup performed will be overwritten.
Unlike in Windows XP, you do not need to log into the Passport Web site to modify properties. You can simply click Properties and make the necessary updates. The Properties window also lets you change the domain password, if applicable. Another difference, as stated earlier, is the Backup and Restore features. If you use the Backup feature, you are asked to select a location to store your login credentials. You can pick the file location using the browse button. Once you name and save your file, the following screen asks you to use the Ctrl+Alt+Delete combination to continue the backup. Vista then asks you to enter and then confirm a password to protect the backup file. If you use the Restore feature, Vista asks you to select the login credential file that you saved earlier. After you select the file, you can move on to the next screen where you once again use the Ctrl+Alt+Delete combination and then enter your password to restore the backup.
Manage your file encryption certificates The Encrypting File System (EFS) feature is available in the more advanced editions of Windows Vista. We discuss the benefits of file encryption later in this book; however, suffice it to say that with the increasing dangers of identity theft and other online criminal activities, file encryption is something that you will want to seriously consider for sensitive data files. Users who are coming from Windows XP Professional or Windows 2003 (or 2000) will likely remember this feature. Windows now uses EFS to store files to your hard drive in encrypted format. The principles of EFS are quite simple: By selecting EFS, files are Watch Out! You cannot open encrypted files without the proper decryption key.
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encrypted when you save and close them and automatically decrypted when you re-open them. EFS is helpful, especially if you have multiple users sharing a computer and one user wants to make sure that certain data isn’t available to other users. To use this feature, you must first have an encryption certificate and a valid decryption key on your computer or another media. Obtaining or renewing certificates is discussed in greater detail in Chapter 7. If you do not have a file encryption certificate, you can create one (see Figure 5.25). If you do have one, the certificate details appear in the feature. Vista allows you to create a self-signed certificate either on your computer or a smart card. You must then select a location for the certificate and, if desired, set a password for it. You can also wait until the next time you log on to set a password. If you’re curious as to what the certificate does exactly, you can view it and the list of uses appears.
Figure 5.25. The file encryption certificate.
A hierarchical menu appears for you to select which directories are associated with the key — in other words, which directories are encrypted and updated. Be careful though, the more directories that you include means the longer it will take for your update and encryption to complete.
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File Encryption Certificates File Encryption Certificates are the centerpiece of encryption. These “documents” act as a passport that confirms a user’s identity or even assures the safety of a Web site. These certificates are generated by special companies referred to as Certification Authorities. You’ll need to have a valid file encryption certificate in order to use EFS. It’s also good to have for when you are navigating a secure Web site. Certificates are provided automatically, but it is possible that you may be able to manually obtain one. For example, if you wish to secure your e-mail communications, you would need to apply for such a certificate from a Certification Authority such as Thawte, VeriSign, or Computer Associates.
If you are using Vista Home (Basic or Premium), you won’t be able to use EFS, but all is not lost! You can use the Cipher application (type Cipher.exe at your command prompt) to decrypt files or back up EFS certificates or keys. In order to use the Cipher application, you’ll need to have the encryption key or certificate. There are a number of third-party applications that can perform similar functions. However, there are some advantages to using EFS for file encryption, notably the fact that EFS is fully integrated with Windows’ file system.
Configure advanced user profile properties You can directly access your user profiles and toggle between local profiles and roaming profiles. This is almost the same window as the User Profiles window available in the Advanced System Properties (the Copy To option is not available here). There isn’t a lot of actual configuration that you can do from this window; you can simply change profile type. Beyond that, your only other options are to validate or cancel the operation.
Change my environment variables Like the User Profiles window, this is the same Environment Variables window that you can find in the Advanced System Properties window. Environment Variables should be modified with the greatest care;
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deleting or erroneously modifying a variable or its value can have disastrous effects on your computer, such as making it inoperable! Environment variables also let you set variables for both your user account and system-wide variables. Proceed with caution; specifically, only if your system or application documentation tells you.
Change group membership Changing group membership for a user account can only be done if you are logged on as an Administrator. In fact, your computer must be logged on to a domain and you must be logged on as a computer administrator and have the necessary network permissions to perform this task. Please see your network administrator should you have any questions about your access level. You cannot perform this procedure without the necessary permission. Home users most likely do not need to worry about domains; in fact, office users probably don’t need to concern themselves too much with them either. With respect to Windows, domains are a group of computers that are managed by a server. They contain user and group accounts as well as security policies. Group accounts are similar to local user accounts, except that they are used to assign rights to a group of users instead of a single user. This makes life much easier for administrators, because they can add groups of users to a single category and apply similar properties across the board. To change group membership for a user account, you work with the User Accounts window from the Control Panel. If you are working on a domain, you will find a User tab at the top of the User Accounts window. Click the name of the desired user account under the Users for this computer menu and click Properties. Select the new group for the user and click OK. Windows offers nine default groups from which to choose: ■
Administrators. Administrators have full access to the machine.
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Backup Operators. This group can override security settings only in order to back up or restore files.
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Guests. This group is similar to the Users group; the Guest account has additional restrictions.
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Network Configuration Operators. This group can have limited administrator rights in order to manage network configurations.
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Power Users. This group has many of the same rights as the administrators, but still has certain restrictions.
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Remote Desktop Users. This group can log on to the domain remotely.
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Users. This group can run certified applications, but not legacy applications (unlike Power Users). They cannot make system-wide changes.
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Debugger Users. This group can debug processes locally and remotely, if necessary.
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HelpServicesGroup. Group for Help and Support service center.
You can also add new groups in the Computer Management window. Keep in mind that this section does not apply to you if you are not on a domain.
Configure fast user switching Windows Vista kept another cool feature from the XP days — the Switch user feature. This feature lets you toggle between user accounts on your computer without having to completely shut down your current session. By toggling users, you can safely switch to another account without fear of losing data. The Switch user feature puts one account on hold while you log into a different account. This is practical, for example, if you are working on a document for work and another family member needs to use the computer to quickly e-mail a file from their Documents folder. To toggle accounts, simply log off from the Start menu and select Switch User. Windows Vista displays the welcome screen and lets you select any available user account. After you are finished with the second account, go back to the Start menu and log off. Be sure not to shut down
Inside Scoop
Inside Scoop Shut down any applications that use a lot of system resources before switching user accounts. The performance of the second account is very much affected by the resources used by the primary session.
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the computer; should you do this, Windows reminds you that another user account is currently logged in and that you may lose any unsaved data.
Use the Run as administrator command to switch users Windows Vista provides a special command that allows you to use an application with a different user account or permissions than what is currently set in your active Windows session. In other words, you can open an application as a user other than yourself. This command is both Windows-based (accessible from the Windows Vista interface) and command-line based (accessed from the command prompt or Run menu). This command was formerly called Run as in Windows XP; it is now Run as Administrator. This change may be confusing to users who are used to the Windows XP nomenclature; however, this change seems logical. Why would an administrator want to run an application as a Standard user? You do not need to be an administrator to access or use the Run as feature. You can use it if you want to create a desktop shortcut for another user account, for example. It can also be helpful if you are an administrator logged on to a more restrictive account and want to perform some tasks that are not authorized using your account, but you do not want to log off.
Use Run as Administrator from the interface If you are working within the Windows Vista interface, you can access the Run as Administrator command from any application icon or shortcut found in Windows Explorer, the Start menu, or Computer. However, the way this works is completely different from what you may be used to from Windows XP. First of all, the Run as Administrator command only appears in menus of Windows-bundled applications and features (applications that are factory included with Windows Vista, for example, Windows Media Player or WordPad). The command lets you open the application with Administrator privileges. This amended command, on the other hand, does not appear for installed applications, such as Microsoft Office.
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You can also switch users through the Properties command if you right-click the application icon (for both installed and onboard applications). By clicking on the Advanced button, you may be able to check the Run with different credentials option. This lets you run an application using a different user account or to continue accessing the application using your current account. If you activate it and right-click the application icon, the Run as Administrator command appears in bold. If you wish to go back to the status quo (and not Run as Administrator), you must go back through the Advanced menu and deselect the option. The Run as Administrator command reappears in normal font size. If you are a Standard user, and you run an application as an Administrator, you do exactly as discussed above. The User Account Control window appears indicating that you must enter an administrator password and then click OK. Once you do this, you can access the application as an Administrator.
Use Run as Administrator from the command line The command-line version of the Run as command is slightly more complicated than from the interface and contextual menus. You can access the command prompt where you will call the command in several ways: ■
From the Start menu, enter cmd in the search box at the bottom of the Start menu and click OK.
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Also from the Start menu, you can click All Programs, Accessories, and then Command Prompt.
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You can also access the command by creating a shortcut on the desktop and then typing cmd in the Create Shortcut dialog box.
The “runas” command accepts a number of parameters, or settings, which are shown below. For information on each of these parameters, please see the Windows XP Help and Support Center or simply type “runas” at the command prompt and press Return, and the definition for each parameter will appear. Watch Out! Another big difference between the command-line and interface commands is that the command-line command is runas while the interface command is Run as. Using Run as at the command prompt will return an error.
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The proper syntax for the runas command is RUNAS [ [/noprofile | /profile] [/env] [/netonly] ]/smartcard [/user:<UserName>] program Some examples that Windows offers of the “runas” command syntax are as follows: ■
runas /noprofile /user:mymachine\administrator cmd:
No profile will be loaded, the user’s environment will be used, and it will open the .cmd file. ■
runas /profile /env /user:mydomain\admin “mmc %windir%\system32\dsa.msc”: The user’s profile will be loaded
using the current environment; the user will open the .msc file. ■
runas /env /user:
[email protected] “notepad \”my file.txt\””: The current environment will be used; the
user will open the designated file with Notepad.
Create custom management consoles Windows Vista uses consoles that list administrative tools, folders, Web pages, and other items to manage your Windows experience (see Figure 5.26). The console is the framework that holds these items together. Admittedly, consoles are something that the average user probably won’t use. Consoles haven’t changed very much in this new version of Windows, beyond the addition of a third panel, called Actions, which offers all the opportunities that the Action menu does. You can create your own Microsoft Management Console (MMC) to monitor hardware, software applications, or networking devices on your system (see Figure 5.27). MMC creation is done by adding wizards, snapins, tasks, documentation, and so on. You can also view and use a number of preconfigured consoles in the Administrative Tools menu in the Control Panel. This menu includes familiar consoles, such as Computer Management and Data Sources (ODBC). The MMC is easily accessible from the search bar in the Start menu. Simply type mmc and click OK. You can also add extensions, such as /a (to open in author mode), /32 (to open in 32-bit mode), or /64 (to open in 64-bit mode, however, this requires a 64-bit processor). A blank Console Root window appears inside the Console box, unless you added a path after mmc at the command line, in which case the desired existing console will appear.
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Figure 5.26. The blank Console window.
Figure 5.27. The Computer Management console.
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Watch Out! You should only use author mode when you need to create or update a console. Otherwise, use one of the three user modes — full access; limited access, multiple windows; or limited access, single window.
The Console Root window is now split into three parts: the console tree, the Details pane, and the Actions pane. The console tree, which shows the available components in your console, is the left pane of the window. The middle pane, the details pane, lists any information relating to the selected component in the console tree, for example, the name. The third pane, the Actions pane, provides all the options available in the Action menu of the console toolbar for the selected component. There are two different ways of viewing the consoles, either in user mode or author mode. You view preconfigured consoles in user mode. Author mode is the mode required for editing or creating new consoles. These modes can be selected in the File Options menu of the Console menu while in a new/nonbundled console.
Create a new console Now that the Console window is up and running, it’s time to get started on the console. Creating the console shell is the first step in creating a custom MMC. Before we begin, verify in the Options menu that you are set to author mode. You can potentially create a console that monitors computer management, IP security, and local users and groups. To do so, follow these steps: 1. From the File menu, use the Add/Remove Snap-in command to add or remove snap-ins (click Add to add a snap-in; click on an installed snap-in and click Remove to remove a snap-in); we’ll be working in the Standalone tab. If you are adding a snap-in to your console, this dialog box lets you select from 24 snap-ins provided by Microsoft. For more information on your snap-in, simply click it and a brief description will appear at the bottom of the dialog box. 2. When you select a snap-in and validate your selection, either it will appear in the Add or Remove Snap-ins dialog box or a wizard will appear requiring you to configure the snap-in before it is added. 3. If you are removing a snap-in from the list, simply select the snap-in and click Remove. Some snap-ins, as we will discuss later, require
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extra configuration; for example, you may need to select a machine, or set an ActiveX control. Snap-ins are nothing more than tools or components that are designed to monitor or achieve a certain task and are stored in your console. There is no need to be confused by their presence because of the unusual name afforded them by Microsoft. There are two types of snap-ins: ■
The first is the snap-in that we saw in the list of 82 snap-ins back in the dialog box; these are called “standalones.”
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The second kind of snap-in is called an extension; this is a subsnap-in that can only be added to an existing snap-in to enhance its functions.
The Add or Remove Snap-ins window is cleaner in Vista than in XP. Instead of having a two-tab window, your available snap-ins appear immediately. Once you select a snap-in, you must first configure it before it appears in the Selected snap-ins panel. In order to work with extensions, click on the snap-in from the list of Selected snap-ins and then click Edit Extensions. If you click on the extension name, a brief description appears at the bottom of the dialog box (see Figure 5.28). If your snap-in has more than one extension available, there is a check box that allows you to select them all.
Figure 5.28. A description of the selected snap-in is displayed at the bottom of the window.
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Watch Out! Not every snap-in has an extension! If the Extensions tab is dimmed, that means that none of your snap-ins have extensions.
After you’ve validated your selection, your console should look just like one of the preconfigured consoles that you’re used to seeing! The snap-ins appear under the Console Root in the console tree, and the relevant information for your snap-in appears in the details pane. Remember, you must click the snap-in in the console tree in order for it to appear in the details pane. By default, the Console Root is selected and the names of all the installed snap-ins appear in the details pane. Simply save the console in the File menu and your new MCC will appear alongside the other preconfigured consoles provided by Microsoft.
Use your console Now that you’ve created the console, it’s time to put it to work for you. Consoles aren’t an overly complex component in Windows Vista, but many people simply won’t use them. At best, the average user may use one of the preconfigured Microsoft Management Consoles to troubleshoot a problem. Referring to the console we created in Figure 5.29, if you decide that you want to create or edit a user, you can do so by opening your console in the MMC, and then right-clicking the appropriate snap-in (Local Users and Groups). You can create a new user or rightclick on an existing user that appears in the Details pane, and establish settings, for example, that prevent users from changing their passwords. Or you can disable or lock an account. Snap-ins can be used or configured from the Console dialog box. To do this, in the console tree, click the name of the desired snap-in. As you click the snap-in, you’ll notice the details pane change. There are two other more subtle changes in the Action and View menus, although you may not notice those right away. These are the associated actions and commands in these menus that change. The Action menu lets you perform any associated actions for a snapin from a single toolbar menu. You can also achieve this by right-clicking the snap-in name in the console tree. The View menu, quite simply, lets
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you select how you wish to view the snap-in. Some View menus are more robust than others; for “Device Manager on local computer,” you can select to view Devices or Resources by type of connection while other snap-ins may only allow you to select large or small icons. If there is a particular snap-in that you find you use more than others, the Microsoft Management Console allows you to store favorites in the same way you would save a Web site as a favorite in Internet Explorer. You can even create Favorite folders to better organize your snap-ins.
Figure 5.29. A customized console.
Create Taskpad views The Microsoft Management Console also features Taskpad views; this hasn’t changed either since Windows XP, so let’s review their purpose. These views appear in the details pane of a console and feature shortcuts to other commands. Like many other procedures in Windows Vista, this too is facilitated through the use of a wizard. The New Taskpad View Wizard (see Figure 5.30) is a rare commonality in the MMC Action menu (it is actually available for all snap-ins); you can find it by clicking the New Taskpad View menu item under the
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Action menu. Select the snap-in to be changed (for example, the IP Security snap-in that we’ll quickly add for these purposes).
Figure 5.30. The New Taskpad View Wizard.
The New Taskpad View Wizard starts off like most wizards. It provides a quick overview of what the wizard will achieve and what it will do for you. Make sure you click on the desired snap-in in the console tree before you launch the New Taskpad View Wizard. The first screen in the wizard walks you through the Taskpad display, or style. In other words, you set up how the details pane will appear for a selected snap-in. The wizard provides three different styles for you to choose from: Vertical list, Horizontal list, and No list. If you’re confused on which one to use, each style tells where it is most applicable if you select it. A sample picture appears real-time next to the style options. You can also opt to hide the Standard tab, which is a list of controls. You may also choose between displaying task descriptions as text (they will appear below the task names) or as an InfoTip, where they will appear in a pop-up window. Finally, this screen lets you decide if you want the list size set to small, medium, or large. This is simply a question of Watch Out! Make sure you click on the desired snap-in in the console tree before you launch the New Taskpad View Wizard. The wizard takes into account the selected snap-in, so if it’s not the one you want, you’ll have to cancel and start over.
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how large you want the details pane to be. By default, medium is selected (see Figure 5.31).
Figure 5.31. Taskpad style options.
The next wizard page lets you decide where to apply the new Taskpad view. You can either apply the Taskpad view to the currently selected item or you can apply it to all occurrences of the item. In other words, if you have two instances of the Disk Defragmenter snap-in, you can apply the new Taskpad view to both instances (as well as make this view the default display for both instances of the snap-in). The next screen of the wizard allows you to give a name to the new Taskpad view. By default, it takes the name of the selected snap-in. You can also add a brief description of the Taskpad view if you like. The final step is to validate your work by clicking Finish. Your new Taskpad view appears (see Figure 5.32). You have the option of adding new tasks to your new Taskpad view by selecting the New Task Wizard. The New Task Wizard allows you to create a task for the Taskpad you created earlier. You can launch the New Task Wizard immediately after you complete the New Taskpad View Wizard. After you launch it, you can select the type of command you will use: ■
Menu command. Run commands from a menu.
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Shell command. Run scripts, launch a program, or open a Web page.
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Navigation. Navigate to a view chosen from your Favorites.
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Figure 5.32. The new Taskpad view.
Create group policies There are a number of places where you would create or use group policies. These include your local machine, another computer on your network, a Web site, a domain, or an organizational unit (such as, accounting, documentation, and so on). Group policies let you control the user environment. Examples of group policies include managing wallpapers, scripts, security settings, or software deployment. Group policies are essentially group policy settings set using the Group Policy Objects snap-in from the Microsoft Management Console. These are stored locally on your machine; however, if you are working over a domain, the Group Policy is stored at the domain level (in addition to your local group policy). In previous versions of Windows (notably Windows 2000), this was primarily designed for use with Active Directory or a network. However, Windows Vista shows that it is also great for use for stand-alone machines because you can completely control your machine’s environment without having to be on a network. You can view the current Group Policy on your machine in the following directory: C:\WINDOWS\system32\GroupPolicy. The Group Policy
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Watch Out! Group Policies and the Group Policy Object Editor snap-in are only available with Windows Vista Business. This section does not apply to Home users.
folder is an invisible folder, so make sure you are able to view the contents. If you cannot see them, open Computer Tools Folder Options and click Hidden files and folders in the View tab and select Show hidden files and folders. The contents of this folder may differ depending on the policies set, but there are a minimum of four items in the folder: ■
Adm folder. This folder contains .adm files (Administrative template files) used for the group policy as well as the admfiles.ini configuration file.
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User folder. This folder contains a list of registry settings and Logon/Logoff scripts (if any were created).
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Machine folder. This folder contains a list of registry settings and a Scripts folder containing Startup/Shutdown scripts (if any were created).
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Gpt.ini file. This file details any extension modification settings.
You can view a Group Policy locally on your machine. To do this, you’ll want to access the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) window we discusss earlier in this chapter. Working with either a console you created or a brand-new console, add a Group Policy Object Editor snap-in from the Add Standalone Snap-In menu. When you select the Group Policy Object Editor, the Group Policy Wizard appears in a separate window. These objects are stored in the Active Directory or locally. The wizard gives you the opportunity to select a Group Policy Object on your machine or on another machine on the domain. If you opt to browse the objects on another machine, the wizard lets you pick the type Hack If you are looking to access the existing group policy, type gpedit.msc at the command window, or in Start menu search box.
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of objects as well as the location. There is a set of advanced options that looks similar to your standard Find menu. After you finish the Group Policy Wizard, go back to the Add or Remove Snap-ins dialog box, and click the Extensions tab. Extensions are used to extend the functionality of the snap-in. The Group Policy Object Editor snap-in features a number of available extensions. When you validate your selections, the Console dialog box appears again.
Determine Group Policy settings Now that you know a little bit about Group Policy, you can work with actual settings. For example, you may want to add or remove a user or change security settings. However, it’s extremely important to note that any changes made to Group Policy settings could have profound effects on your system and how it performs or behaves. You can use either the console you created in the MMC discussed earlier or use the gpedit.msc file to make changes to your Group Policy settings locally. Using the console tree (see Figure 5.33), you can expand and collapse the various menus. When you find the desired policy to change, click it in the details pane. A detailed overview of the policy appears on the left side of the details pane (see Figure 5.34). Double-clicking the setting in the details pane opens settings elements in the Extended tab of the pane on the right. Click on a name and then click the link to its immediate left to configure it. Right below the link you will find a brief definition of what the setting is. Once you click the link, you can configure the settings according to your needs. Once you’ve finished, be sure to click Apply, and then click OK in order to make sure that everything has registered! Watch Out! Before you modify any Group Policy settings, make sure you have a recent backup of your machine as well as a bootable disk handy. Changes to Group Policy settings can make your system unstable or even crash it.
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Figure 5.33. The Group Policy window.
Figure 5.34. The description of the Group Policy.
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Watch Out! You may have noticed that the MMC or the Group Policy console had both Computer Configuration and User Configuration. Please note that the Computer Configuration setting always takes precedence over the User Configuration setting. By default, these settings have the same setting for both configurations.
Just the facts ■
Windows Vista features three types of user accounts: Administrator, Standard user, and Guest. Each account has varying levels of access and rights.
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Using the Switch User feature, you can quickly toggle between multiple user accounts without having to shut down your session or having to log off.
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Switch users when launching an application from a particular account using the Run as command.
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Create customized consoles using the Microsoft Management Console to analyze and stay on top of your machine’s activities.
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Create Group Policies to manage and control your user environment.
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W
indows Vista has made a lot of progress, or at least a lot of changes, to the user experience by changing how folders are viewed. In some ways, the folks in Redmond made navigating folders and their contents a more integral part of how we use Windows. But that’s not the only change in Vista. With identity theft on the rise, people are becoming increasingly concerned about protecting the data on their computers, and with good reason! Microsoft has responded to these uncertain times, albeit a bit late, with an improved feature that allows file and folder encryption, as well as a way of locking down your hard drive in the event it is physically stolen. Windows Explorer is still very much alive and well in Windows Vista, though it is integrated with other folders, notably Documents. This is another example of how Microsoft has made navigation a lot easier by merging frequently used features with Windows basics, such as folders. In this chapter, we take a look at how Microsoft made navigation easier for you in Windows Vista, as well as review some of the still-valuable features carried over from Windows XP. Of course, we also take a look at how file encryption can benefit you and why you should take advantage of this feature or some sort of encryption package.
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GET THE SCOOP ON... Changing folder views ■ Customizing folders ■ Search folders ■ Adding files to Start menu ■ File compression ■ Windows BitLocker ■ Encryption ■ Sharing files and folders ■ Working with the Recycle Bin
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Watch Out! Microsoft dropped the “My” from the Documents, Pictures, Music, and so on, folders for Windows Vista. This book refers to all of these folders by their new name.
Change folder views Open a folder — any folder — and if you’re a first-time Vista user, then you’re bound to be blown away. The first thing you notice is that folders look nothing like the ugly old yellow things that you’ve grown accustomed to over the years in Windows. Folders in Windows are now actually informative, displaying a wide array of helpful information that wasn’t as easily accessible in previous versions of Windows. The Documents folder (see Figure 6.1) is a perfect representation of folders in Windows Vista.
Figure 6.1. The Documents folder shows off the new look folder.
Would you like to supersize that? Here’s a perfect example of where Microsoft got something so right, that it merits a special notice. A major complaint among many Windows users
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in the past was that icons and their labels were too small to read. Microsoft rectifies this longtime lapse of judgment by offering four different icon sizes: small, medium, large, and extra large (see Figure 6.2).
Figure 6.2. The icons in Windows Vista can be resized.
Although the icon is magnified, the label is not. But we still consider it a major improvement over past Windows versions. When you click on an icon, important file information is displayed at the bottom of the folder. The new Live Icons feature more than makes up for the small label text. No, they’re not living and breathing icons (though in a way they really are); icons in Vista folders now display a “live” snapshot of the actual document it represents and not just a generic symbol. For example, a thumbnail of the actual file and not just a boring Word icon displays (see Figure 6.3). Windows Vista doesn’t offer much in the way of view types: in fact, there are only four view types: Icons, List, Details, and Tiles. Icons display a graphic representation of your file or application. As mentioned earlier, they can display in one of four sizes. The List display displays your icons very much like small icons. It is also similar to the
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Details display type; the only difference is that Details provides pertinent information, such as the date the file was last modified, the file type, and its size. Thumbnails do not make the cut, though they can be made to appear without implicitly selecting them. For example, thumbnails are replaced with a new feature called Live Icons which we describe earlier. If you select the Details view, the filename, date modified, type, and size are still displayed like they were in Windows XP. If you look at the bottom of the folder, the same information, as well as any other available information, is displayed. If you opt for the Tiles display, the folder or filename and type appear along with the appropriate icon for the type. Tiles display a mediumsized icon along with the filename, file type, and size. If you mouse over a tiled file, you can also find information such as the date it was last modified and information specific to the file type (picture dimensions for graphics, and number of pages for Word documents, for example). Like in Details view, relevant information of the clicked icon is displayed at the bottom of the folder.
Figure 6.3. Live Icons give a true view of your file.
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Working with Properties The Properties command, which is evoked by right-clicking a file, application, or folder, hasn’t changed significantly in Windows Vista, but it is worth being reacquainted. Most users never think to use the Properties options, but they can be very helpful. File properties in Windows Vista change depending on whether or not the file is a file, application, or folder. If you open the properties of, for example, a WordPad file, you notice four different tabs: ■
General tab. This tab is exactly the same as in Windows XP. It features information such as file type, location, size, size on disk, number of files, creation date, and attributes. You can also set advanced attributes from this tab.
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Security tab. Allows you to set permissions for user accounts on the machine. This tab will likely be familiar to many users. The Advanced button provides additional security features that are discussed later in this book.
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The Details tab. Contains relevant information about the selected file or folder.
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Previous Versions tab. Lets you roll back to a previously installed version of your file, if applicable. To use Previous Versions, you must first create a restore point for your file.
If you are viewing the properties of an application, then your options are slightly different: General, Shortcut, Compatibility, Security, Details, and Previous Versions. Most of these are very similar to the options available in Windows XP. Folders display the General, Sharing, Security, and Previous Versions tabs. These are similar to the Windows XP options. We do find the Properties menu to be somewhat confusing; it seems that every file type has a distinct layout. For example, some Properties menus do not have Security or Detail tabs, and we’re not exactly sure why. Inside Scoop
Inside Scoop Did you happen to notice that title bars and borders in Windows Vista are considerably larger in Aero? This pleasant weight gain makes it easier for you to resize windows.
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The anatomy of the folder So many options are available when it comes to working with folders that it starts to become overkill. Take a closer look at Windows Vista folders. As you can tell from your first look at Windows Vista folders, everything has been streamlined into a united interface. The address bar at the top now features a hierarchical breakdown of where you are in relation to your hard drive. By clicking on any of the arrows in the address bar, you can go to another frequently used area, such as Pictures, Videos, Favorites, Music, and so on. By clicking on the arrow next to the folder icon, you can go to the desktop, Computer, and Recycle Bin (see Figure 6.4). By the way, the Pictures, Video, and Music folders are no longer found directly inside the Documents folder; they are now completely separate entities found within the user directory.
Figure 6.4. The address bar provides easy navigation.
The address bar also has another new feature — try right-clicking it. From the hierarchical listing, you can copy the address (either as a path or a text name) or even edit it. If you choose to edit the address, the address changes to show the path and not the text name (Documents). If you right-click on the path, there are a number of settings including an option to read from right-to-left, as well as Unicode settings. If you are working primarily with ASCII characters, you most likely won’t be using these features. The ubiquitous Search box is also present in Windows Vista folders. This Search feature works exactly the same as the Search feature in the Start menu. To facilitate navigation of Windows Vista, the left side of the screen features a list of favorite links. These links include documents, pictures, music, recently changed items, and searches. You can remove any of these links by right-clicking the link and selecting Remove Link. The main panel features relevant information about a file if you clicked Watch Out! As stated earlier, Microsoft has dropped the “My” from their folders in Windows Vista.
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Inside Scoop By double-clicking on the address bar, you can view the path of the current folder. For example, C:\User\Bob\Documents. Double-clicking it again returns the hierarchical menu.
one. This information is also displayed across the bottom of the folder. Do not mistake the Searches link for a standard Search feature; this link really points to the Search Folders feature. We discuss this new feature later in the chapter. If you are viewing the search results or contents of a folder, you can do a lot from the column headers. These column headers are greatly improved in Vista, even if this feature is easy to miss. Beyond the usual way of viewing sorts, you can use the Stack View option (which organizes data by stacks based on content values) and the Group by View option (which displays content by groups based on content values). If you click on an arrow on the right side of the column header, you can set sort parameters. If you right-click a column header and click More from the menu, you can access the Choose Details window (see Figure 6.5). You can choose which details should be displayed. This includes the default column headers plus an impressive amount of other details. You can also set the column width in this menu.
Figure 6.5. The Choose Details window with extensive details.
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Inside Scoop You can access the Internet without launching your browser by entering a valid Web address, or URL, in the address bar.
The most intriguing part of folders in Windows Vista is the menu bar, located just below the address bar. This menu bar features seven buttons that are shown in Figure 6.6.
Figure 6.6. The Documents menu bar.
Organize The Organize menu is similar to the Tools menu in Windows XP. From the Organize menu, you can create new folders, use the usual editing features, and set folder options. You can also set and remove properties for a folder item. The folder options are pretty identical to those in Windows XP. The only difference is that the File Types and Offline Files tabs are out and the Search pane (which features options, not search capabilities) is in. If you make changes to a folder, these changes are carried over to all other folders for that user account.
What a pane! The Layout menu in the Organize menu lets you decide how the folder should appear. If you select Classic Menus, a standard menu bar appears across the top. If you find yourself missing the standard File, Edit, and View menus in Windows XP, this layout will take you down memory lane. If you right-click the menu bar in Classic Menus, you can opt to display a Links menu or to lock the toolbars. By selecting Links, you can open a Web browser and add a Web site to your list of links. Watch Out! The Tools menu, which is displayed using the Classic Menus option, features Network Drive mapping and synching options that are not available in the Organize folder options menu.
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The Search pane features a lot of confusing options. First, this pane is completely independent of the Search bar at the top of the folder. It’s also somewhat disingenuous at first glance. If you select the Search pane, a toolbar appears that lets you sort folder content by Documents, Picture, Music, All, or Other. The interesting thing here is the actual Search feature and not the sort. Using the Search pane, you can perform a search using a number of criteria. These include file type, filters, date, size, and location. The problem with this search tool, while powerful, is that it is very easy to actually find out where this feature is. The Search toolbar has an arrow next to an Advanced Search label; click the arrow to access this Search feature (see Figure 6.7).
Figure 6.7. The Search pane can be difficult to maneuver.
The Preview pane is the information bar that appears across the bottom of the folder. This pane works wonderfully in tandem with the Details pane, because it packs a one-two punch of information about your file. This is helpful because it means that you no longer have to right-click a file and select Properties to retrieve the same information now displayed here. The Reading pane displays a preview of the file (when possible) to the right of the Details pane. This preview is particularly helpful for pictures or music files. If you’re used to working with Microsoft Outlook, it’s similar to the preview e-mail feature. Hint If you want to protect your folders and prevent them from being modified, right-click the Classic Menus menu bar and select Lock the Toolbars. Keep in mind that only that menu is locked; other menus can still be modified.
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Finally, the Navigation pane features your favorite links as well as a rather hard to find Folders menu. If you click on the up arrow icon, you can see a list of your folders as it would appear in Windows Explorer.
Views The Views menu lets you set how icons are displayed — this includes size (small, medium, large, and extra large) as well as display type. In Windows Vista, you can also choose between Details view and Tiles view. For more information, please refer to the “Change folder views” section earlier in this chapter.
The other buttons It’s hard to tell you what to expect for the remaining menus simply because Windows is too smart. Well, not exactly, but one big improvement in Windows Vista is its ability to change menu appearance based on your actions. For example, if you are in the Documents folder, you have these options: Share, Burn, and Previous versions. If you are in Pictures, you have the same options plus a Slide Show option. If you are in the Music folder, you have the original three options plus Play all. If you are in the Searches folder or navigating your hard drive, you have an Open option to launch either the search or the application.
Previous versions Windows Vista lets you roll back to an earlier version of a file using the Previous Versions tab of the Properties files. Activated by default, this lets you abandon changes to a file that, for example, a colleague may have inadvertently modified. Although an interesting file, it’s not as automatically helpful as it may sound. A user might reasonably assume that this feature automatically saves a copy of your many files every time you click Save. This isn’t quite the case. Rather, when you create a restore point using the Back Up Files Wizard, you save specific files whose previous versions are stored as a shadow copy. The record of those shadow copies is displayed in that file’s Previous Versions tab of its Properties. While this feature may be helpful, it is possible that it could be a security risk, notably in cases where people believed that they deleted a file or in the workplace. Common sense and discretion should always be exercised; if you believe that this feature may be a security risk for you or your
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company, you can disable it in the System Protection tab in the System Properties (Control Panel).
Searches folder You may remember the discreet Search option in the Favorite Links section of your folders. The Vista search tool is better known as the Searches folder. This folder contains 11 preconfigured searches (see Figure 6.8); you can also create and save your own. For example, let’s say that you are looking for a document written by Farquhar contains the word “corporate.” Your search is saved as “Author Farquhar/Keyword Corporate.” In the future, you can go to “Author Farquhar/Keyword Corporate” and perform a search where the results are returned instantaneously and onthe-fly, regardless of where the files are found on your computer. This feature is helpful for oft-repeated search criteria; no more waiting for Windows to make its way through the hard drives, external drive, and USB drive just to find a handful of files! The only real negative about this feature is the potential for confusion when users expect to use it to perform customized searches.
Figure 6.8. Vista provides preconfigured searches in the new Searches folder for faster results.
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Windows Explorer and Vista Windows Vista still uses Windows Explorer — you can still find it in the Accessories menu of the Start menu. However, Windows Explorer’s role hasn’t evolved so much as it has become a more integrated feature. In Windows Vista, the hierarchical display is a little more discreet; it appears tucked underneath the Folders section (see Figure 6.9).
Figure 6.9. The decidedly discreet Windows Explorer.
Adding files and folders to the Start menu The Start menu remains one of the easiest ways to track your files and folders. Although many people use the Documents folder to store important files or documents, you can do it just as easily from the Start menu (plus, it’s quicker to navigate!). If the Start menu is your location of choice for storing important information, don’t forget that the actual document is still stored someplace on your machine. The file that appears in the Start menu is simply a shortcut. In other words, it points to the actual location of the file. It is just like many of the other icons found in the Start menu or on the desktop. Inside Scoop
Inside Scoop
You can make the classic Windows toolbar appear temporarily in Windows Explorer by pressing the Alt key. To facilitate navigation, the meat and potatoes of Windows folders (Music, Contacts, Documents, Favorites, and Pictures) are now displayed with teal/green icons. For some reason, Windows decided to display Videos as a yellow folder.
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Watch Out! If you move a file or folder from Documents or Picture, you move the team instead of copying it. To copy it, hold the Ctrl key while you drag it to the proper folder.
So, what’s the point of doing this when the file is still located in, for example, the Documents folder? For one, if the file is frequently used, it is a lot easier to click once in the Start menu and open it as opposed to potentially navigating several levels down in a folder. To move a file or folder to the Start menu, all you need to do is open the folder of the desired file or locate the folder and drag and drop it onto the Start menu icon. Now, this is where you have a choice; be sure not to let go of the file while you decide. You can either: ■
Drag the file or folder onto the Start menu and release; the file or folder automatically appears in the “Pin up” area. This is the area at the top left of the Start menu when it is opened.
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Drag the file or folder onto the Start menu and wait until it opens automatically. You can then drop the desired file or folder anywhere in the Start menu; this includes the “Pin up” area, the folders of other applications.
If you add a shortcut to the Start menu, be careful to which file you point. Use the Search function to manually locate the appropriate file instead of guessing. Some files or folders, for example, Microsoft Word, do not have obvious file locations. In my example, Word is winword.exe and not word.exe. Shortcuts can be a real timesaver if used judiciously. By placing shortcuts in the Start menu instead of on the desktop, you can maintain a neatly organized computer.
Redirecting the Documents folder The Documents folder is traditionally found on the same drive as the operating system. It is nicely stored in the Users directory for easy navigation. Hint Store any file/folder shortcuts in the Start menu and not on the desktop. If you install them on the desktop, you run the risk of accidentally deleting an important shortcut.
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Watch Out! You cannot use the Properties window for the Documents folder in the Favorite Links area. For some reason, though it points to the same directory, it doesn’t include the Location tab in the Documents folder in the Preview pane.
Of course, you may decide that you would rather have your documents stored in another directory or perhaps another drive (internal or external). You may consider redirecting the Documents folder to another disk drive for hardware or security reasons; for example, your secondary hard drive has 50GB free and your operating system drive may have only 5GB available. To change the location of your hard drive, you must open the Documents Properties window in the Preview pane of the Documents folder (see Figure 6.10).
Figure 6.10. The Documents Properties window.
You now are faced with two choices: do you want to move the current Documents folder to another location or do you want to change the folder where your documents are stored (effective immediately). If you opt for the latter, the folders currently in your default Documents location remain in their initial location; any subsequent additions are added to the new location that you just set. In the Documents Properties
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window, you can select a new location from the Location tab; simply click the Find Target button or the Move button to change locations. When you have made your choice, you can change your mind and restore the default location, or you can apply your changes and click OK.
Create compressed files and folders File compression is an important, yet often unnoticed, part of Windows. Windows Vista is no different. Of course, in this modern age of broadband Internet connections and virtually unlimited hard drive space, the urgency of file compression isn’t what it once was. Though it seems like forever, it wasn’t that long ago where we still used a 56k modem (at best!) and a phone line to get online. You can only imagine, or remember, how difficult sending files could be! File compression was created for this very reason; to crush a file down to its lowest possible size. This would reduce transmission time, and, by extension, lower the communication costs incurred by spending long periods of time tying up your phone line. File compression was also a very important feature at one time due to the cost of hard drives and their limited sizes. This was the era where 3.5” floppy drives (or even 5.25”) were the norm; long before even Zip disks were the talk of the town. Software packages such as WinZip, PKZip and WinRAR helped home users create manageable file sizes and bundles to reduce space and increase convenience. Though it may seem that these applications are long-since obsolete, they are still as important and valid as ever! Why would you want to compress files today? There are a number of reasons; for example, file compression is still convenient for grouping a set of files so that they can be sent over e-mail. On a related note, file compression can reduce a file or folder to an appropriate size. Not all mail servers accept large file attachments; by compressing your files, it may mean the difference between a valid and illegal file transfer. Also, it’s not because you have a lot of free space that you should waste it! The seemingly superfluous disk space available today may be gone tomorrow if you decide to install another operating system or a large application suite. Microsoft, being the type of company that doesn’t like to be outdone, now bundles their own compression software. This tool, though fairly bland, is still an effective way to reduce file size as well as to compress folders.
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Squeezing the myth out of compression Compression uses mathematical algorithms to reduce file sizes. There are several mechanisms that are used; one of the most common is through the use of tokens or small symbols that represent larger quantities of information. For example, if you use the phrase “Unofficial Guide to Windows XP” many times in a single page, a compression algorithm would replace that phrase with, for example, a two-letter token. This reduces file size, and the more tokens that can be used, the smaller the file. Some file types are more amenable to compression than others. Picture files such as TIFF or BMP files that contain digital descriptors for each pixel compress nicely; a big stretch of blue sky, like Windows XP used to use by default, can be crunched down to a fraction of the size. A single token can be used to describe large chunks of data. JPG files, on the other hand, cannot be compressed because the JPG standard already uses compression to create the file. There is little additional benefit to running a file through a compression algorithm multiple times. The Windows compression algorithm mechanism is decent, but it’s not intended to be a replacement for full-featured applications like PKWare’s PKZip or WinZip Computing’s WinZip. In Windows, support for file compression is used more for compatibility than as a full-fledged power tool. If you move files across the Internet frequently, you should invest in one of those applications for your industrial-strength compression needs.
Turn on folder compression Honestly, do you really need to keep the folder compression feature? This is a perfect example of Microsoft’s “pack rat” tendencies or its inexplicable desire to remain “old school.” In this modern age, where a “small” hard drive is 40GB and DVDs can hold 4.7GB of data, do you really need to compress folders to gain space? The folder compression feature is designed to reduce the amount of space a folder takes up on your hard drive. If you opt to use this feature, Windows will compress the files in the background, slightly reducing computer performance.
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Watch Out! If your computer is just barely meeting Windows Vista CPU requirements, you should avoid compressing folders as this procedure eats up a decent amount of system resources.
If we haven’t scared you off from this feature, please allow us to show you how to use it: 1. Simply select any folder that you wish to compress and open the Properties window by right-clicking the folder. 2. Click the Advanced button on the General tab and then select the Compress contents to save disk space attribute. 3. Click OK. One small complaint here — users cannot be blamed for erroneously thinking that they might be able to select both the compression and the subsequent encryption option. If you select one and then try to select the other, it changes your selection. It would be clearer for users to see the other option grayed out when one attribute is selected. Once you validate your change, Vista will ask you to confirm your changes. You can opt to apply the change just to that particular fold or extend it to its subfolder and files. If you decompress afterwards, a similar dialog box appears asking you to confirm decompression. You can take it a step further by compressing an entire disk (see Figure 6.11). From Computer, click the desired drive and right-click to open Properties. The General tab opens and lets you select Compress this drive to save disk space. This procedure may take a while depending on the content of the drive. If you’re familiar with Windows XP, you may remember that you could also compress files using the Disk Cleanup program. For one reason or another, Microsoft removed this option from Windows Vista. The only way to compress your files is through the Advanced button as illustrated earlier. Inside Scoop
Inside Scoop If you have to change the location of a compressed folder, be careful! To maintain its compression attribute, you must copy the folder to its new location. If you simply move it, it reverts to its original compression.
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Figure 6.11. The General tab of Documents Properties is the starting point for folder compression.
Create compressed archives Compressed archives are a file that contains compressed files; you may have heard the expression “Zip file.” It is simply a folder whose contents have been compressed, or “zipped,” and stored in a single file. Compressed files are very practical for moving groups of files between computers or media; they are also often used in installation programs. Compressed archives display as a folder icon with a filename appearing in blue (see Figure 6.12). By double-clicking the archive, the folder is automatically decompressed. Creating a new archive is a very simple, straightforward process. From an open folder, right-click the file or folder you wish to compress and click Send To, and then select Compressed (zipped) Folder. The folder or file reappears in the same location as the source file(s) as a Zip file; Watch Out! Although Windows compresses and decompresses files and folders automatically, it doesn’t do it for files within compressed archives. This means that applications cannot see those files unless you extract them from the archive first. Click File and then Save As to save an editable uncompressed copy onto your hard drive.
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the icon appears according to your chosen compression software. For example, if you use WinRAR, the compressed file or folder appears with the WinRAR compressed file icon. Remember that you can either copy a file into the archive (which keeps an uncompressed version on your hard drive) or move the file by holding down the Shift key and dragging it onto the archive. This removes the local copy from the hard drive. There is an easy way to move the entire contents of a folder into a compressed archive. Select the desired files (or use Ctrl+A) and then right-click and click Send To before selecting Compressed (zipped) Folder. The archive is automatically named based on the first object in the archive.
Figure 6.12. The Documents folder with a compressed archive file.
Cab it! You may have noticed another type of compressed file called “cab” files (short for “cabinet”). Their icons look literally like file cabinets. These
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are used by Setup when installing applications. Unlike compressed archives, you cannot add files to an existing cabinet file or make new ones. We strongly advise you not to delete or move them — simply know they are there, what they are, and then leave them be.
Encrypt files and folders Encrypting files is a good way to keep other users out of your business; more specifically, it prevents other users from viewing or changing files. Although you can set permissions to prevent access to the Documents folder, this is an extra level of protection that is considerably safer. Why would you want to encrypt files? Unfortunately, with cyber crimes on the rise, taking the proper steps to protect yourself and your data is now a necessity and not just something for us worrywarts. Many people keep important information on their computers, such as bank records, passwords and PIN numbers, and credit card information. By the same token, many people also tend to think that identity theft can’t happen to them and take little to no precautions for protecting their data or computers from online attacks. Nowhere is the need more important for proper preventive measures than on a laptop — should your laptop be lost or stolen, wouldn’t you want to at least know that your data is protected? Let’s talk about some of the old encryption tools Windows puts at your disposal. There are some pretty big improvement in Windows Vista, but let’s review some of the old school technology and its rules. Encryption keys are part of your Windows credentials. When you open or close an encrypted file, Windows checks to see if you can read the file. In other words, people who do not have permission to see a particular file will not be able to see it. Encryption and decryption methods change depending on what you are doing. ■
If you move or copy an unencrypted file into an encrypted folder, Windows automatically encrypts the file.
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If you move or copy an encrypted file from an encrypted folder to an unencrypted folder, the file remains encrypted.
To encrypt a file or folder, right-click the file or folder you wish to encrypt, and do the following:
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1. Click Properties and then make sure you are on the General tab. 2. Click Advanced again from the General tab, just like you did to compress a file. 3. Click Encrypt contents to secure data, and then click OK. When you click Apply, an Encryption Warning dialog box appears reminding you that you are encrypting a file in an unencrypted folder. You have the option of encrypting only the file or the file and its parent folder. 4. Once you decide (you may also opt to always encrypt just the file); click OK and encryption is applied. Once you complete this task, a notification dialog box appears at the bottom of the screen telling you that you should back up your file encryption key. This is a very important step to take; should you lose a key or should it become unusable, you’ll need this backup, otherwise you won’t be seeing your encrypted files again! The Encrypting File System window gives you three options: Back up now, Back up later, or Never back up (see Figure 6.13):
Figure 6.13. The Encrypting File System window.
We recommend, along with Microsoft, that you choose Back up now. We highly discourage the last option of never backing up. This is a quick and easy process; why tempt fate?
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1. Click Back up now (recommended). The Certificate Export Wizard appears 2. Click Next. 3. Select the desired file format for your certificate and click Next. If you aren’t sure which format to use, Vista provides suitable information with a direct link to the online help from this page. 4. Type and confirm a password for your key in the same screen and click Next. 5. Enter a filename for the file and click Next. 6. Click Finish. A dialog box lets you know if the procedure was successful or not (Figure 6.14).
Figure 6.14. The wizard will let you know if the export is successful.
You can share this file with other users without having to give them the password or decrypting all files and folders. In the Advanced Attributes page, you’ll notice that there is now a Details button that appears next to the encryption option. Click it and the current user access window appears. As you can see, you are the only user currently authorized to access this file. Click Add and then select one of the users from the list. If desired, you can view their certificate by clicking the
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Watch Out! If you want to view your encrypted files or folders from a different computer on your network, you must store your certificate file to a floppy or USB drive, and use it to decrypt your files.
so-named button. For more information on digital certificates, please refer to Chapter 7.
Advances in Vista Microsoft has certainly gone to great lengths to dispel their image of being lax on security. Some of these changes, which are discussed in greater detail in Chapter 7, include the Windows Rights Management Services (RMS) client for enterprise deployments, an improved Encrypting File System (EFS) mechanism, and control over device driver installation. However, in terms of encryption, the new kid on the block is BitLocker™.
Introducing Windows BitLocker™ This is a nice new addition to Windows Vista, but it’s very typical of how Microsoft operates. They have a tendency to take inspiration from other applications and then make a version (sometimes better, sometimes worse) of their own. Let’s just be blunt: If you want true encryption protection, go with PGP (www.pgp.com). They’ve been doing encryption, and doing it well, for almost two decades. Of course, if you do not need the heavy-duty protection of PGP, or don’t feel like spending beyond the cost of Windows Vista, BitLocker is still a viable option. This encryption program literally encrypts your entire hard drive; should your computer (especially laptop) be lost or stolen, you can rest assured that your data is secure — even if the hard drive is used on another computer. How does it work? BitLocker encrypts your entire hard drive, including system files, and stores your key to a USB key. Ideally, it would use a chip called the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) — if available. However, this is a microchip that is only available in newer computers that are security-oriented. The advantage here is that your hard drive is quite safe; you can rest assured that it won’t be compromised. However, as much of a pain trying to crack it is for a thief, it’s almost as much of a pain for authorized users
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The early days of PGP encryption The much-touted PGP is the brainchild of Phil Zimmerman, a long time privacy activist. The whole idea behind the program was to allow safe communications on BBS (Bulletin Board Systems) and to protect files and folders (just like Microsoft). The first version appeared in 1991and was completely free; in fact, the source code was made widely available on Usenet and eventually the Internet. As you can imagine, it wasn’t long before PGP was being used outside the United States — for home use, but also by dissidents in less-than-democratic countries. The resulted in a criminal investigation of Zimmerman in 1993 for allegedly exporting munitions without a license. At the time, 40bit encryption was the strongest allowed by law; anything beyond that qualified as munitions. PGP, on the other hand, has never used less than 128-bit encryption. Fortunately for him, the investigation went nowhere. In 1996, PGP went commercial and was eventually bought by NAI. Zimmerman worked with NAI on PGP for a short period of time before quitting. NAI eventually went under and sold off PGP assets. From the ashes rose the Phoenix, and PGP Corporation was born.
to access an encrypted drive. For example, if you stored your key on a USB flash drive, you must insert it every time you boot your computer. This flash drive must be kept away from the computer because if a user of nefarious intent happens upon the computer and the flash drive with the key, he can easily decrypt the drive. This is why the TPM security chip is preferable; it has anti-tampering protection. To start BitLocker, open the Security menu from the Control Panel (Figure 6.15). Watch Out! Besides a USB flash drive and TPM technology, there are a few other requirements that must be met before using BitLocker. You must have at least two partitions on your hard drive (the active partition remains unencrypted so you can start your computer) and have a TPM/USB-compatible BIOS.
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Figure 6.15. The new BitLocker application.
1. Click on BitLocker Drive Encryption; a list of available drives is displayed indicating which drives or partitions are eligible for encryption. 2. Click the Turn On BitLocker link to start the wizard. The wizard automatically detects if you have TPM on board. If not, you are asked to save a startup key on a USB drive. 3. A list of available USB flash drives appears; click Save. 4. You must now create a recovery password; you can either save it to your USB flash drive, save it to a folder, show it, or print it. It is preferable to store it to USB for security reasons. The next step is the actual encryption. This process could take a fair amount of time depending on the amount of information to encrypt. You can pause the procedure by clicking the Drive Encryption icon at the bottom of your desktop. Should your computer reboot or you need to turn it off, you can easily resume encryption once you are back online.
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To turn off or decrypt BitLocker, go back to the BitLocker Drive Encryption page and click Turn off BitLocker for this drive.
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You can decrypt the drive by clicking Decrypt the drive.
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If you click Disable BitLocker, you can temporarily suspend the application.
Enable file sharing It’s hardly worth mentioning that Windows Vista maintains file sharing capabilities. A staple of Windows, sharing information is the whole reason networks even exist! There are several different ways of sharing files in Windows Vista. The most common and easiest way is to share files from your computer by using either a standard folder or the Public folder. To share a folder, do the following: 1. If you are sharing a standard folder, simply click on the desired folder to share and click Properties. 2. The Properties window for that folder opens. Go to the Sharing tab; notice that the folder icon appears with the folder name and text “Not shared.” The Network Path entry box is empty. 3. First, click Advanced Sharing. Though it may seem logical to click Share, the Advanced Sharing window lets you establish file sharing (see Figure 6.16).
Figure 6.16. The Advanced Sharing window lets you set up your folder sharing.
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4. Click the Share this folder check box. The name of the folder appears in the Share name box. From this window, you can limit the number of users logged on at the same time. You can also add comments pertaining to the shared folder in the so-named box. If you click Permissions, you can set the permissions for users accessing the folder. By default, it is read-only. We would advise leaving this status as is. 5. By clicking Add, you can add objects, such as users or groups, if available. Back in the Sharing window, you can set how the shared contents appear to offline users. For example, you can opt to not make files or programs in the shared folder available offline. You can also make all files and programs available offline or make only select files and programs available offline. 6. Once you are ready, validate any open dialog boxes, and return to the Properties page. The folder icon now is set to Shared and the network path appears, pointing to your computer and the shared folder. 7. If you click the Share... folder, you can either change permissions or stop sharing. If you opt to change permissions, you can choose with whom you will share and set their appropriate permissions level. You can also create a new user, which takes you to the User Accounts screen. You can also stop sharing from this folder simply by clicking the sonamed option. However, don’t be alarmed if your folder still indicates that it is shared. If you close and re-open the folder, it will change to the correct setting.
Working with the Public folder Windows Vista now features a Public folder, which is just that. Finding it can be a bit tricky. In the Documents folder, click the Folders menu and scroll down to the bottom and click Public. By default, access to this Watch Out! Don’t forget that if another user accesses the Public folder, it is as if they are working on a folder on their own computer. They can add, delete, or edit freely.
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folder is disabled. However, when enabled, this folder is visible to anyone who is on your network (see Figure 6.17). If you turn on file sharing for this folder (see the next section for how to do that), every file will be visible to anyone with a user account and password. Unfortunately, you cannot pick and choose file or application access in the Public folder for a given user, nor can you grant or deny access on an individual basis. In other words, it’s an all or nothing situation — either everyone or no one can access the Public folder.
Figure 6.17. The Windows Vista Public folder.
Which one should I use? There are a number of criteria that may help you influence how you share files. You may want to share a folder if any of the following apply: ■
You do not wish to move items to the Public folder and prefer keeping them in their original location.
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You wish to set permissions on an individual level and not a networkwide level.
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You are trying to make a large number of media files (oven voluminous in size) available but do not wish to have them copied in another location, thereby wasting disk space.
On the other hand, the Public folder is a valid option for a number of scenarios: ■
You don’t want to bother making multiple folders available and would prefer to share all files from a central location.
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You require quick access to all shared files.
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You want to be sure that your shared files are separate from personal files that should not be shared.
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You prefer setting network-wide permissions.
Using the Network and Sharing Center The Network and Sharing Center replaces the Network File and Printer Sharing features, which is the key to the aforementioned file sharing options. This is accessible from the Control Panel and controls file sharing settings, particularly for the Public folder (see Figure 6.18). Ironically, this is a very important element of the operating system, yet finding it is like looking for a needle in a haystack. In the Control Panel, click Network and Internet and then Network and Sharing Center. To be honest, we’re not sure why Microsoft decided to discard the Network File and Printer Sharing feature. This new creation combines both network and sharing preferences and status. We’ll concentrate on the Sharing and Discovery aspect of this window; the Network details are discussed in ample detail in Chapter 9. The Sharing and Discovery section of the Network and Sharing Center is very clean; it’s a simple list of your basic options and a status indicator. This list covers: ■
Network discovery
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File sharing
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Public folder sharing
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Printer sharing
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Password protected sharing
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Media sharing
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Hint Make sure you have set your Windows Firewall settings (or any other firewall you are using) to allow network browsing.
Figure 6.18. The Network and Sharing Center window.
You can find out specifics for each of these by clicking either the status indicator or the arrow icon at the right of each list item; the items mentioned in the following paragraphs are illustrated in Figure 6.19. Network discovery is the state whereby your computer can see other computers on the network and these computers see you. This is discussed in greater detail in Chapter 9; however, you can turn this feature on from the Sharing and Discovery section. The Network Discovery section also lets you rename your computer using the System Properties window. By default, it is set to Custom.
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File sharing poses a simple question: Do you want shared files and printers to be made available to other people on the network? By default, it is disabled, but you can easily change that; just remember to click Apply before you go on to the next section. If you don’t click Apply, your changes are not taken into account!
Figure 6.19. The Network and Sharing Center displays information for each aspect of file sharing.
Public folder sharing is similar to the File sharing option, only this refers specifically to your Public folder and its contents. You can opt to let anyone with network access open your files or let anyone with network access read, write, and create files. Of course, you can leave it at its default setting, which is to not share the Public folder. The Apply rule in the previous paragraph also applies here. If you are working on a collaborative effort with a trusted user, you may consider write (Co-owner) access; otherwise, it would be safer to grant read-only (Reader) access by default. Printer sharing, which is turned off by default, lets you share your printers with any user with network access. Once again, be sure to click Apply if you change the default setting.
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The Password protected sharing section probably should have been number one or two on this list. This feature dictates whether users accessing your shared files and printers need to have a user account and password on your computer. By default, this is enabled. We recommend keeping it on, otherwise anyone can access your shared files. One would reasonably expect that you set this feature before you determine what parts of your computer will be made available to other users. It’s perfectly normal to want to know who is accessing your computer and what they’re doing. Media sharing lets you share music, pictures, and videos from your computer with other uses. This is turned off by default, but can be easily changed by clicking Change. This feature is detailed later in Chapter 8 that discusses the Windows Media Player.
Other ways of sharing files There are other ways to share files with users; in fact, it’s highly likely that you use these options quite frequently without realizing it! Each of these options offers varying levels of reliability or security. These options include ■
E-mail. This is a quick, easy option if you are trying to share a small number of files; particularly if they are not large.
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External drives. This includes external hard drives, CD/DVDs, flash cards, and USB thumb drives. These are quick and convenient solutions for transporting files one time as opposed to requiring them to be available for a longer period of time.
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Temporary network. Also called an Ad Hoc network, you can create a computer-to-computer network between two computers on the same network. This is discussed further in Chapter 9.
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Windows Live Messenger. Like e-mail, this is a quick, convenient option for trading a limited number of small files on-the-fly.
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Windows Collaboration. Windows Vista offers a new collaboration tool for sharing documents and programs. This is also discussed further in Chapter 9. Another worthwhile option is Microsoft’s Groove, which is available with Microsoft Office 2007.
There are other options available to you as well, such as Web-based file sharing applications or Web sites that offer file and photo sharing (some may be fee-based). However, this should inspire a number of file sharing options.
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Watch Out! If you opt to skip the Recycle Bin, remember that you will not be able to try and perform a file recovery operation.
Managing the Recycle Bin The Recycle Bin, as we noted in The Unofficial Guide to Windows XP, is where old files go to die. Most people use it without thinking a whole lot about it, but you can do a number of small things to make it work more efficiently for you! The Recycle Bin is a little different in Windows Vista, which just proves that even the folks in Redmond were thinking about improving it! Indeed, it even takes advantage of the Aero theme with its transparent background. If you right-click it and click Properties, the Recycle Bin Properties window appears (see Figure 6.20). It displays your account and your Public folder, indicating how much space is currently available (in the past, it displayed hard drives). You can set a maximum size, which is 4617MB by default — but be careful! This means the largest file size allowed in the Recycle Bin and not the capacity of the Recycle Bin. You can also option to remove files when you delete them and not go to the Recycle Bin.
Figure 6.20. The Recycle Bin Properties window.
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The other option is whether or not to display the delete confirmation dialog box. If you disable it, deleted files go directly to the Recycle Bin instead of asking you if you’re sure. We recommend leaving this option selected as a safety measure. It’s quite a hassle to retrieve a deleted file, so the dialog box reminding us that we’re about to delete our corporate earnings report is quite alright with us!
A (very) few words about Indexing Service The Indexing Service was first introduced to the desktop in Windows 2000 Professional. Originally part of the Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack, Indexing Service was designed to provide content indexing services primarily for Internet Information Server, but also for early versions of Microsoft’s Commerce Server products. As disk sizes grew and information expanded rapidly, putting indexing services on the desktop sounded like a great idea and so the service has been available on desktops ever since. In the Properties menu for your hard drive(s), you can select a check box allowing you to index the drive for faster searching. If you opt to use this feature, be aware that it could take a long time to perform. If you plan on using it, we recommended doing it right before you go to sleep; it should be ready when you get up.
Just the facts ■
Desktop folders can be enhanced with performance and cosmetic changes.
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File compression saves space; file encryption protects data.
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You can’t use both compression and encryption on files.
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Microsoft BitLocker™ can help reduce the dangers of a lost or stolen hard drive.
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File and folder sharing, either traditionally or using the Public folder, can be easily set up.
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or the Vista release, innovation was sacrificed in the name of a safer, more secure product. Microsoft hits the target in some areas and misses in others. However, no matter what your opinion is of Microsoft, it’s obvious that Redmond gave it the old college try and is interested in (re)gaining your trust. Clearly, security was priority number one at Microsoft when they were planning the Vista release. A virtual lightning rod for security experts and the anti-Microsoft crowd, it’s fair to say that many of the complaints about Windows security are warranted. As a computer user, security has to be on your mind when you surf. There’s no escaping the Internet, it has permeated most, if not all, of Western culture and is as natural as a coffee break at the office. However, dangers lurk on the Web — phishing, virus attacks, spam, and identity theft, to name a few. To combat the risks, you must take necessary precautions to make sure you have the safest online experience possible. Remember, it only takes one virus to wreak havoc on your computer; it takes much longer to clean up the mess of a virus than it does to download the file that brought it. Although it’s true that you can never be 100 percent safe, you can lessen the likelihood of virus infection and being the victim of any other attack. This chapter helps you understand what’s out there and how Windows Vista can help you prepare for it, including some of the new security features in this release. 231
Chapter 7
GET THE SCOOP ON... Making Windows safe ■ Windows Firewall ■ Windows Live OneCare ■ Windows Defender
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Making Windows safe Microsoft really tries to make security a top priority for Windows Vista. They did this by working on five areas: platform security, access security, malware protection, a safer Internet Explorer, and data protection. Each of these issues, with the exception of platform security, is discussed later in this chapter. First, Microsoft developed a Security Development Lifecycle (SDL), which is a process whereby all software is built from scratch. By doing this, Microsoft hopes to reduce security risks. What does the SDL mean to users? It means that you can rest assured that your operating system went through a battery of tests to measure design and coding to make sure that it can be used safely. This involves extensive review and testing — both of the code and against Windows XP vulnerabilities. Fortunately, Microsoft took good notes during the security panic back in 2003. As a result of this experience, as well as working with security experts, Microsoft finally saw the light and tried to correct past errors. Relatively new, Vista is the first operating system to use this new development plan. Microsoft also worked to minimize the risk of being attacked through system services. A number of well-known worms and their subsequent attacks made mincemeat of Microsoft’s earlier security gaps. Worms are similar to viruses, in that their intent is to damage or destroy computers. These are actually little programs that self-replicate, continually propagating until it brings a system down. To combat this, Microsoft designed system services to work in a limited environment — by using the least amount of account privileges and limiting activities to a single machine or network. These services are called restricted services. Finally, Windows altered how it handles buffer overruns. A buffer overrun, also known as a buffer overflow, is when a process tries to store data in an area beyond the limits or boundaries of the computer’s memory buffer. To protect computers from worms or viruses taking advantage of these occurrences, Vista terminates a program if it suspects that buffer tampering occurs. By terminating the program, damage is limited.
Working with the Security Center The Windows Security Center is a relatively new addition to the Windows family. It first appeared in Windows XP Service Pack 2 and is probably that operating system’s most important upgrade. The Windows Security
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Center is designed to be the central location for handling all securityrelated matters, as well as managing any third-party security applications that you may opt to install.
Easy Hacking 101: The short history of Windows security As glad as most of us are to have the Security Center, it wasn’t met with much enthusiasm. In fact, a good number of users considered it to be a day late and a dollar short. As we mentioned in the introduction to this chapter, Microsoft doesn’t have a stellar track record when it comes to security issues. In fact, if you use Automatic Update, you know that Microsoft frequently wants you to download and install security updates. These include hot fixes and security patches, not to mention Windows Office updates that helped shore up the security gaps present in most Windows installations. However, we must be realistic. Windows controls over 90 percent of the desktop market share, so Windows is the default target. Most hackers haven’t found it worthwhile to write viruses for RedHat. Why exactly does Microsoft come under so much fire for their security? For starters, Microsoft is guilty of acting reactively and not proactively. In other words, security updates only came well after your computer was made vulnerable. How was it made vulnerable? In the past, Microsoft left a number of potentially dangerous services turned on (enabled) by default instead of making them disabled. As a result, once you got your computer online and started surfing the Internet, worms and viruses had a field day wreaking their havoc. The Microsoft response was to not open attachments from people you don’t know. Nice, except that viruses were smart enough to infiltrate address books and send e-mails from people that you knew. Why wouldn’t you trust a file attachment from your best friend? Additionally, it’s highly plausible that in a professional setting, you may receive many e-mails with attachments from people that you do not know, making this well-intended advice somewhat ill-advised. As Microsoft floundered, third-party software vendors rubbed their hands in glee. Antivirus, privacy, and spyware software popped up and did well for themselves. Firewalls and routers hit the market to help people make up for Microsoft’s deficiencies. Finally, it seemed, Microsoft had enough.
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During the Windows XP development period, Microsoft stopped all development so that every line of code was reviewed for security and design flaws. The result was monthly security updates and Windows XP Service Pack 2. As Vista rolled forward, Microsoft put even more effort into security.
The Windows Security Center Let’s jump right in and take a look at the Windows Security Center (see Figure 7.1). Don’t be too hopeful — it doesn’t do as much as it reports. In other words, it doesn’t actually perform any security measures, it simply reports status and lets you know how your machine is doing.
Figure 7.1. The Windows Security Center.
When you open the Windows Security Center, the Security essentials page appears. This page contains four main areas of Windows Security: Firewall, Automatic updating, Malware protection, and Other security settings. Each one is surrounded by either a red or green box and has a matching status button; it is either red or green, like a traffic light. This section is largely informative; you cannot set preferences, nor can you
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Watch Out! Windows OneCare is currently in the works for Windows Vista; currently, it is still only available for Windows XP. For up-to-date information on the availability of Windows Live OneCare, click the link in the Offers from Microsoft section of the Welcome Center.
enable or disable any of them! Each of the four sections simply indicates your current level of protection as well as a link to the relevant help file. As you most likely know all too well, Microsoft surprisingly hasn’t introduced a serious antivirus application until now (odd, given its penchant for getting hit), though it’s ironic that you have to pay extra for it. They did, however, offer Microsoft Anti-Virus (from Central Point, later Symantec). If you do not have a recognizable antivirus program, you can select one using Find a program. Of course, you could always give Microsoft’s new security bundle (including the aforementioned antivirus program) a try — Windows Live OneCare. It is comparable in price to its competitors. On the left side of the Windows Security Center screen, you have some legitimate options. These include Windows Update, Windows Firewall, Windows Defender, and Internet Options. You can also click on a link (Internet connection required) that provides the latest in security updates. This window also lets you set whether or not you want to be notified when your computer is at risk. Note that these links do not let you set preferences for these applications, but rather take you to the applications directly.
Checking your six Besides the tips and information provided in this chapter, there are a number of things you can do to help reduce your chances of being hit by a virus or spyware. These are low-cost, easy to implement ideas. ■
First, when surfing, make sure you turn off pop-ups. If you are using Internet Explorer 7, this is an integrated feature. Otherwise, most third-party toolbars, such as Google or Yahoo!, feature a way to disable pop-ups. Pop-up menus are largely responsible for spyware. In addition to disabling pop-ups, you can also set your security settings to medium. We discuss more of these suggestions in Chapter 10.
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■
Pay closer attention to your passwords. For example, change them regularly. Pick passwords that are not easily identifiable. It’s important to think of passwords that you will remember, but be careful not to pick ones that you’ll forget.
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When using e-mail, try using encryption programs for sensitive data. PGP (www.pgp.com) is an affordable and secure solution to sending encrypted data. Speaking of e-mail, here are two pieces of advice: Limit the availability of your e-mail address, and pay attention to the content of your e-mail.
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The more you broadcast your e-mail address, the more likely you are to receive spam. Try using free e-mail accounts, like Hotmail (www.hotmail.com) or Gmail (www.gmail.com) for mailing lists or for advertisements. Set up spam filters to prevent the overabundance of unwanted spam. When you do receive spam, avoid clicking the “unsubscribe” links that are required by law. These do not unsubscribe you; rather, they validate your address and you can be sure that you’ll be seeing even more spam in the future.
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It’s important to check the contents of your e-mail; attachments can easily be “disguised” to resemble normal files. However, check out the attachment’s extension (the three letters to the right of the period in the filename); if it looks unusual, it’s most likely a virus. Also, phishing is a relatively recent problem that has besieged Internet users. This is when e-mail is disguised with a link that is meant to “verify” information or lure you to a site and then hits you with shareware or viruses, not to mention worse possibilities. For example, some phishing sites ask you to verify bank information or other personal data. Once entered, this data is stored on a remote server and can lead to identity theft.
Windows Vista Firewall If you’ve ever worked in a company with an IT department, you’re probably familiar with the term firewall. A firewall is a virtual barrier that stands between your machine or network and the outside world. Most companies use firewalls as a first line of security. Firewalls protect your system or network by keeping out malware or unauthorized users before they reach your computer or network.
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Watch Out! The term malware is a rather generic term that refers to software that is designed to cause harm. This includes viruses, worms, spyware, and adware.
A firewall isn’t just a tool for professional use. Every user, even at home, should hide behind a firewall. When incoming data reaches the firewall, it checks the data packets against a VIP list; if it checks out and is authorized, the firewall lets it through. Otherwise, the data is refused and discarded. This type of protection is absolutely essential, especially if you are a laptop user. Think of all the places you might connect your laptop for Internet access, especially with the dawn of Wi-Fi! Malware only needs to hit once to be lethal, don’t adapt the “it won’t happen to me” attitude. Microsoft has offered a bundled firewall since Windows XP Service Pack 2. In Vista, you can easily access it from the Windows Security Center by clicking on the link on the left side of the page. Although firewall is enabled by default, you should set your preferences quickly. In Vista, Microsoft decided to make a true firewall by featuring bidirectional filtering, but they also make you work for it. Bidirectional means that the firewall monitors both incoming and outgoing data. However, a number of corporate clients didn’t want outgoing filtering because of the difficulties that it would cause with local IT security design and policies. So, by default, the firewall only monitors incoming data. If you want to use the more advanced firewall (see Figure 7.2), you’ll have to hunt for it.
Configuring Windows Firewall Windows Firewall is a basic, but decent, firewall. Your average user should find it sufficient for their needs. Many people opt to use it in conjunction with other security measures. For example, we use the Windows Inside Scoop
Inside Scoop The standard firewall does not offer bidirectional support. To use this feature, you must use the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security. Type firewall in the Start menu Search box and select this option. Be careful not to select Windows Firewall instead.
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firewall with Norton protection, Defender, and Lavasoft spyware detection, as well as a few other applications to protect our computers and their content when online. The quickest three ways to open Windows Firewall are ■
Double-click Windows Firewall from the Control Panel.
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Click Windows Firewall from the Windows Security Center.
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Type firewall in the Start menu search box.
When you open the firewall, click Turn Windows Firewall on or off. In the Windows Firewall Settings window, you see three tabs (see Figure 7.3): General, Exceptions, and Advanced. In the Advanced tab, you have two simple options: On and Off. If you opt to leave it enabled, you may also decide to block all programs. This is a good idea if you are working in a public place; however, if you are at home, you can probably just leave it unchecked. This option, formerly called Don’t allow exceptions, blocks all incoming traffic, regardless of any exceptions.
Figure 7.2. The Windows Vista Firewall.
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Watch Out! Windows Firewall may be set to Off, even if you are covered. These check boxes are a bit unreliable.
Figure 7.3. The Windows Vista Firewall tabs.
Exceptions tab If you click on the Exceptions tab (see Figure 7.4), you’ll see a long list of services or programs. You can manually check items that you want to unblock. When you connect to the Internet for the first time (and subsequently for each Internet connection source), you are asked to designate the network as Public or Private. (See Chapter 9 for more information.) The Exceptions tab indicates whether you are working on a public or private network. Just remember that if you opt to block all programs, this list is overridden and everything is blocked. For example, if you block Windows Live Messenger, you can send messages until dawn; however, no one will hear you.
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Figure 7.4. The Exceptions tab of the Windows Vista Firewall.
Exceptions are important because it’s important to be safe, but not treat your computer like a prison. Individually deciding on the status of each program helps you strike a good balance between necessity and security. By checking the option at the bottom of the page, you can tell Vista to let you know when a program is blocked. This tab also lets you add individual applications that are on your computer by clicking the sonamed button. By default, only Windows-bundled applications, such as games, are included. However, you can easily browse to other applications. You can also set block/unblock programs from other computers by changing the scope. A button in the Add a program window allows you to set the scope of your settings: any computer, only the network (subnet), or custom lists (by entering IP addresses or subnets). The Add port button lets you open a port through Windows Firewall. For example, if you wanted to use an SSH port to access a shell, you tell it to open port 22. Applications with outgoing data use a port to send and receive data, including applications such as telnet, ftp, or even MSN Messenger. This feature also allows you to change the scope as mentioned earlier. The final option on this tab is the Properties button, which simply displays the purpose of a program from the list if you click it. Please note that not all programs have a property.
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Watch Out! Be sure to only have one firewall on your machine, or at least only a single active firewall. Using more than one firewall will just confuse Windows and the old gal won’t know who to believe. The result is that nothing may be blocked and you’re back to square one.
Advanced tab The Advanced tab (see Figure 7.5) has quite a few different options. For starters, you can decide which of your internet connections should be protected by the firewall in the Network connection settings. It’s as simple as checking the box of the connection to protect. You used to be able to set logging and ICMP options from this screen; now, there is a link that is supposed to bring you to these options. The logging options are limited: logging either successful connections or dropped packages. Nevertheless, you can select the location of your log file as well as its maximum size.
Figure 7.5. The Advanced tab.
This Internet Control Message Protocol lets you set settings. The settings let you dictate how, or if, a computer on a network can share important status information. By default, Vista only allows incoming echo
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Watch Out! Restoring default settings may cause some applications to stop working. Be careful and audit your settings before deciding to use this feature.
requests. You can select any of the available options you deem necessary. Most users probably won’t use this feature very much. We recommend against touching them unless you know their purpose. You can also restore default settings. If you do block applications and then try to use them, for example, if you block all incoming connections but work with an instant messenger, a dialog box appears and offers you three different options: ■
Keep blocking. No exception is created.
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Unblock. An exception is created and it is enabled, allowing traffic through to your machine.
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Ask me later. Creates an exception in the list, but does not enable it, so the connection is blocked for now.
Today’s lesson: Buy a hardware firewall. Now. A hardware firewall is a device whose job is dedicated to network connectivity and packet inspection. Because it is such a narrowly focused device, there is a very small “attack surface” and it is difficult to compromise. Many residential and SPHP routers or gateways come with firewall capabilities built in. This gives you a much more flexible and configurable solution than putting two network cards into your computer and then using the computer as a gateway. With a hardware firewall, you can protect other Internet devices, such as a TiVo or Xbox without having to turn on your computer every time. On the other hand, using only a software firewall leaves you open to danger. If compromised, it is possible for your entire computer to be open for business to the bad guys. Even if you are using Windows Firewall to protect your direct connection, you should invest in a hardware and software firewall for every computer on the network. Security is improved with layers; every added layer means less chance of vulnerability.
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Inside Scoop Perhaps you’re having a stroke of bad luck and cannot connect to an application, despite having created an exception? Open up hardware firewall ports; some firewalls will do this for outbound traffic, but require you to do it for inbound traffic. Check your router instructions for more information.
These changes take immediate effect, so if you grant an application access, it will begin communication with your computer.
Test your firewall Setting up your Windows Firewall is easy, but don’t take my word for it! Nor should you assume that everything is a-okay and in working order; testing your firewall is just as important as properly configuring it. Your computer may have over 65,000 ports open at any given time, so you want to make sure that any hacker or other disingenuous entity can’t reach them. If you do this from behind a corporate firewall, you’ll probably get a visit (unpleasant) from IT staff. If you’re performing this on a home network, you shouldn’t worry. Firewall test services basically “sniff” the available ports on your computer, looking for any potentially vulnerable areas. At the minimum, these tools scan frequently used services and protocols (which are more likely to be hacked anyway). When finished, the tool usually generates a log for you to analyze the results. Several firewall test sites are available; a quick Web search can yield a number of results. If you prefer to stick with Microsoft’s proprietary software, you can download the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (www. microsoft.com/technet/security/tools/mbsa2/default.mspx). This tool helps you detect security misconfigurations; you can run it from either the graphical interface or from a command line. Watch Out! If you are trying to test your firewall at the office, be sure to consult your system administrator, as your company’s firewall may consider these tests as attacks. It’s better to let your administrator perform such tests. If you are administrating your SOHO (Small or Home Office) network, realize that any signaled attacks may really just be the firewall test.
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Hack To show all open ports plus the process ID of which application opened the port, open a command prompt and type /a /o. Most open ports are harmless or required, but you should check this list occasionally for mystery entries.
If you’d prefer the independence of a third-party tool, you can choose from a number of options. The following is a non-exhaustive list of some of the testers currently available: ■
SecurityMetrics Firewall Test Services (www.securitymetrics. com/portscan.adp)
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Audit My PC (www.auditmypc.com/)
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Symantec Security Check (http://security.symantec.com/ sscv6/home.asp?langid=ie&venid=sym&plfid=23&pkj= IYEQJPUVGCWETOMGMCY)
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HackerWhacker (http://hackerwhacker.com/)
Personally, we find the SecurityMetrics site to be quite effective. It, like a large number of firewall testers, is free. Of course, the important thing here is that you test your firewall and that the results show that you have a safe network environment!
Logging activity Logging firewall activity is a key component of a complete security system on your computer. It’s important to log and verify activity stored in the log because Windows doesn’t tell you when an attack is blocked. In the firewall setup window, you can stipulate where to save the firewall activity log, as well as its maximum size. We recommend leaving the default settings for file size, but you may want to store the log file in a more accessible location on your hard drive. If you are so inclined, you can audit this data by importing the log file into Excel. Doing so allows you to fully view and analyze your information, which makes decision-making regarding security strategies a little easier. If you are working behind a corporate firewall and notice unusual activity or patterns, let your IT department know so that they can take care of any problems.
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Working with the Advanced Firewall If you’re going to stick with Microsoft’s firewalls, we highly recommend that you use the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security. You can access this by typing firewall in the Start menu Search box. Though the names look similar, Windows Firewall with Advanced Security and Windows Firewall are not at all the same product. The Advanced Security firewall is a true firewall (see Figure 7.6). It monitors incoming and outgoing data for true protection. This is a major improvement over the standard Windows Firewall in Vista that only monitors incoming data. The firewall is displayed through the Microsoft Management Console (MMC). When you launch it, the firewall gives you a quick status overview of how your system is being protected. The overview gives you high-level information concerning your Domain Profile, Private Profile, and your Public Profile. Each profile allows you to see whether or not inbound and outbound connections that do not match a rule are allowed. By default, all inbound connections not matching a rule are blocked, while all outbound connections are allowed.
Figure 7.6. The Advanced Security firewall has even more options than the default firewall.
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Windows Firewall properties In the overview section, there is a link that lets you set firewall properties. This opens up a window that has four different tabs (see Figure 7.7): ■
Domain Profile
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Private Profile
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Public Profile
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IPsec Settings
Figure 7.7. You can set parameters for three different profiles: domain, private, public.
The first three tabs are identical in form; you can turn the firewall on or off and set whether or not to allow or block inbound and outbound connections. You can customize the firewall so that users are notified when programs are blocked from receiving inbound connections. There are also settings for using unicast responses and rule merging; however, it is unlikely that most home users would use these. Finally, you can also customize log settings for each profile. This includes log location, size limit, and whether or not to log dropped packets or successful connections. The settings in the above paragraph can be set for Domain profiles (when your computer is connected to a corporate domain), Private profile (when your computer is connected to a private network), or Public profile (when your computer is connected to a public network). The fourth tab, which lets you set IPsec settings, lets you customize IPsec defaults as well as exemptions. IPsec is a set of protocols that are
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used to protect network traffic (data) through the use of digital certificates with keys and security services. The defaults can be changed for key exchange, data protection, and authentication methods. This window also provides a link to relevant online help so that you can make the best decision for your firewall. This tab also lets you exempt the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) from IPsec requirements. ICMP enables computers on a same network to share status and error information. Once you’ve set your firewall properties, it’s time to move on to the Getting Started section of the firewall. You first need to create rules for your firewall to follow with respect to your connections. Click Connection Security Rules to get started (see Figure 7.8).
Figure 7.8. The Connection Security Rules page lets you dictate how your firewall works.
Connection Security Rules The Connection Security Rules are similar in layout to an MMC snap-in. To create a new rule: 1. Click New Rule from the Actions pane. 2. Select the desired Rule Type and click Next.
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3. Set authentication requirements and click Next. 4. Select the authentication method and click Next. 5. Select which profile(s) to which the rule will apply and click Next. 6. Name your rule and add a short description if desired. The new rule appears in the Connection Security Rules. You can filter your list of rules, refresh the list, or export it from the Actions pane. If you click on a rule, it appears under Actions and you can disable or delete the rule or edit its properties. To get back to the firewall home, click Windows Firewall with Advanced Security from the pane on the left. The previous steps also apply if you click the Inbound Rules and Outbound Rules links. The Monitoring setting lets you find out more about your current policy settings and other security information for your active connections. Back on the firewall home page, you can also export your settings as a policy using the Export Policy... option in the Actions pane. You can also import a saved policy. The Advanced Security firewall is a significantly better firewall than the basic firewall that Windows also makes available. Quite frankly, one wonders why they would include both; it makes much more sense to include this advanced edition. Users will most likely find it easy to use, especially more computer savvy users, but they may also find that there’s a lot of reading to do. The Windows Vista interface is quite verbose in some areas, this being a notable example.
Getting ready for Windows Live OneCare Windows Live OneCare is a fee-based security solution that bundles antimalware software, performance enhancers, backup and restore, as well as an improved firewall. Windows Live OneCare has gone through a number of changes since its inception. Currently only available for Windows XP at the time of writing, a Vista version is intended to be available by the time Vista launches. Initially designed to ship as an antivirus program alongside Windows Vista, it was redesigned to work through MSN and then as part of the Windows Live program. Windows Live OneCare doesn’t include Windows Defender, though the anti-spyware integrates perfectly into the Windows Live OneCare
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application — you simply have to download Windows Defender separately. So, what exactly does Windows Live OneCare give you that Vista does not? First, it features a robust anti-malware section that links to the antivirus program and Window’s automatic update settings. Like most antivirus program software, the Microsoft version can monitor your system as well as do a full system scan of all your files. Virus definitions are regularly updated and can be downloaded automatically or manually. You can also use Windows Live OneCare to fine-tune your computer’s performance. It features a couple of throwbacks from Vista: disk defragmenter and backup and restore. Although the backup and restore is good, we personally prefer Norton’s Speed Disk to Windows’ disk defragmenter. The virus scan (file scan) is available in the Performance Plus section, as well as a feature that removes unnecessary files. Windows Live OneCare also features a tool called Tune-up, which does a full system check and maintenance, including a full system virus scan. Reasonably priced for a one-year subscription for up to three computers, Windows Live OneCare provides regular security updates. Many people might complain about having to pay so much money for security software on top of the cost of the Windows Vista upgrade, but this price is quite reasonable compared to competitors. For example, we have used Norton SystemWorks for a number of years; while it offered a number of invaluable security tools, it doesn’t come with a firewall. The price was also higher than the Windows Live OneCare offer. Another attractive advantage over competitors is that it offers user support by e-mail, phone, or even chat. The final verdict: If the Vista version is on par with the current Windows XP release, this seems like a good investment of a modest sum of money each year. If you opt not to go with Microsoft’s offering, you can look to competitors to release a competitive version soon or put together a home security solution piecemeal.
Windows Vista Defender Windows Defender (see Figure 7.9) is an anti-spyware tool that Microsoft released in early 2006 for use with Windows XP and Vista beta versions. You can download the latest version of Defender at www.microsoft.com/ athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx. It is available in both 32 and 64 bit.
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Figure 7.9. Windows Defender interface is easy to navigate and understand.
What is spyware? Spyware is a relatively recent “phenomenon” that isn’t as cute as it sounds. It is a malicious (not as bad as a virus) software that can seek and collect personal information or change the way your computer behaves. The beauty of spyware is that it does these types of things without requesting permission or otherwise notifying you. Many people think of adware when the think of spyware; these are advertisements that pop up at random moments advertising some product or service. Though pop-ups may seem annoying, kind of like a fly, they can be problematic. Recurring pop-ups can crash your system, or simply prove to be embarrassing due to their content. Regardless, it’s important that you regularly check for spyware.
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Avoiding spyware There are some easy steps you can take to reduce your risk of being infested with spyware. First, do not install any questionable software or software from dubious sources. For example, file-sharing software (eMule, eDonkey — we’re looking in your direction) is a hotbed for spyware, pop-ups, and other nasty malware. As cute as they are, downloading cutesy icons, screen savers, and toolbars from weird Web sites can be a bad decision. Stay clear of these. Also, don’t install cracked or hacked software. In addition to being illegal, it’s also a great way to subject yourself to a malware attack.
Windows Defender helps protect your computer by guarding against pop-up menus created by spyware and other applications. Spyware can cause annoying behavior (such as the aforementioned pop-ups — even if your browser is closed!), cause slow computer performance, or even add new cosmetics, such as toolbars, to your browser. Windows Defender can help rid your computer of these little pains in the backside; don’t worry, everyone gets these every now and then, especially the more you surf the Internet. Windows Defender detects and then removes known spyware. You can manually launch a scan or even program a system scan according to when is best for you. If any spyware is found, Windows Defender lets you choose how to handle it. Windows Defender also provides around-the-clock protection by continually monitoring your computer; it notes any system changes that usually mean that spyware is attacking. To help stay on top of the latest spyware definitions, you can receive regular spyware definition updates using Windows Update. We are currently using Windows Defender for both Windows XP Professional and Vista Ultimate. We really don’t have any complaints about this application; it gets the job done! However, we also use a second anti-spyware program, called Ad-Aware by Lavasoft (www.lavasoft.de/ software/adaware/). Another good choice is Spybot S&D (www. safer-networking.org/). Why do we use multiple anti-spyware programs? We often find that one application finds spyware that the other
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doesn’t, due to differing spyware definitions. These programs are rather light in terms of necessary disk space and memory requirements, so we recommend using two packages to be on the safe side, especially if you do a lot of surfing.
User account protection Windows Vista introduces the User Account Control (UAC) feature (see Figure 7.10), which is designed to make your computer more accessible for Standard users. As we discuss in Chapter 4, each and every user account can be tailored to a customized level of access. For example, you can decide which applications, games, or even Web sites each user account can access. Even as an Administrator, you may happen upon a program that has Standard user permissions, but requires administrator level access. Windows Vista asks you to provide the administrator password and, once validated, lets you go to town! The actual User Account Control feature works hand in hand with the User Accounts window.
Figure 7.10. The User Account Control feature lets you decide what users can do on your computer.
The point of the UAC is to prevent other users from making changes to your computer without your authorization. The administrator can literally control just about every aspect of the Vista experience for the standard user accounts. With that in mind, creating specific childproof user accounts makes perfect sense. By taking advantage of the User Account
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Control, you can help reduce the risk of being infected by malware. The administrator is essentially a prison warden, able to grant privileges or go to total lockdown, which prevents any unauthorized installation or configuration changes. The UAC lets you set programs and tasks with standard user access. Any tasks that are defined as administrator tasks are limited to administrator accounts. When an administrator application is launched, Vista first asks the user if they approve of the status change via the Admin Approval Mode. Though it sounds serious, it’s more of a notice that you’re not dealing with low-level standard user material! Of course, if you are using a Standard user account, you will be prompted to provide an administrator password or permission before you can continue.
Authentication Windows Vista gives more power to companies and software shops to handle authentication. Microsoft finally recognized how predictable short passwords can be — many people still tend to use really obvious passwords — and how hard long passwords can be to remember. In Windows Vista, you may opt to use biometrics or token-based authentication. These technologies are not germane to this book; however, do know that you do have this option!
Credentials management Handling all that data, user account or hardware related, can be some tough business! If you’re the type of user that’s always on the go, you’ll appreciate Vista’s Digital Identity Management Service (DIMS) as well as a certificate enrollment process. If you’re really on board, you can even use smart card technology, including a PIN reset tool! SOHO users can keep a backup of all this data in the Stored User Names and Passwords feature.
Cryptography services At the behest of a number of companies and governments, Microsoft really got their act together and offered Crypto Next Generation (CNG) services. Who knew that Fortune 500 companies or governments didn’t want to be open to e-theft? The CNG helps fight this risk; it allows the addition of new algorithms that you can use in SSL/TLS as well as IPsec.
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Using the UAC You can configure the UAC through the Local Security Policy window. To access it: 1. Type secpol.msc in the Start menu Search box. 2. The console appears. Expand the Local Policies menu in the left pane of the window. 3. Expand Security Options at the next level of the hierarchical menu in the same window. 4. Scroll down to the bottom of the policy list. 5. Select any of the User Account Control policies and double-click it. 6. Set the new policy settings and click OK. You can turn the UAC on, if it isn’t already, from the Other security settings section of the Windows Security Center. If it is already on, you cannot turn it off from here. However, you can turn it on or off from the User Accounts page in the Control Panel (see Figure 7.11).
Figure 7.11. The Administrator can turn off the UAC from the User Accounts page.
Adding antivirus protection Windows Vista still does not contain an integrated (or at least free) antivirus application. However, there is an option: Windows Live OneCare.
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Bright Idea If you decide to scan your system for viruses, why not scan for spyware too? This will help provide the best conditions possible for your computer.
As mentioned earlier in this chapter, OneCare is set to be released for Windows Vista around the same time the operating system is released. Like many of its competitors, OneCare’s antivirus application allows you to both monitor your system for attacks, as well as perform a full system scan. Through Automatic Update, you can manually or automatically download regular virus definition updates. If you’d prefer to go with a more trusted, third-party source, you certainly have a number of options. We’ve been using the antivirus software bundled with Norton SystemWorks for a number of years and it has gotten the job done. Our complaints don’t really go beyond the price tag compared to the OneCare subscription, and that it can be slow at times. One advantage of some third-party software is that some of them, for example, Norton, allow you to simultaneously scan for both viruses and malware. If you bought a new computer, you may have a trial antivirus application to test drive. Because most antivirus programs offer the same protections and features, it’s hard to say if one is better than the other. McAfee, Norton, Microsoft — all of these will get the job done. Decide which one you feel comfortable with and regularly update and scan your system. Of course, everything depends on what is currently available for Windows Vista. At the moment, there are several antivirus programs that you can use with Windows Vista: ■
Avast! Antivirus (www.avast.com/eng/avast-antivirus-andwindows-vista.html)
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Grisoft (www.grisoft.com/doc/1)
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PC-Cillin (www.trendbeta.com/index.php?get=80)
Windows Security Center and antivirus software At the beginning of this chapter, we discuss the Windows Security Center and the “placeholder” for antivirus software. If you do not currently have any antivirus software installed, the title appears in a red box with a red light (see Figure 7.12); this indicates that your antivirus software is either not installed or it is disabled.
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Figure 7.12. The Windows Security Center displaying a placeholder for antivirus application.
After you install antivirus software, Windows Security Center should turn green (see Figure 7.13). At launch, Vista looks for an antivirus program; if it does not find your application, you can always manually locate it from the Windows Security Center by clicking the so-named button.
Updating your operating system Just like many people spend time working in their garden or caring for their car, it’s also important that you care for your computer and the Vista operating system. Similarly, the folks at Microsoft frequently release product updates; these include security patches, product updates, or even driver updates. The easiest way to do this is through the Windows Updates feature available in Windows Vista (see Figure 7.14). Watch Out! Unless you install antivirus software, a red shield will appear in the notification bar indicating that Windows Security Center requires your attention. What it really means is that an essential Vista security component is either missing or disabled.
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Figure 7.13. The Windows Security Center with installed antivirus software.
Figure 7.14. The Windows Update feature.
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As we mentioned earlier in this chapter, you can access Windows Updates: from the Windows Security Center. Microsoft gives you three choices; do nothing and pass on updates altogether (not recommended), manually install updates, or automatically download/install updates (see Figure 7.15). Vista downloads any updates from the Windows Update Web site, which is an independent Web site.
Figure 7.15. The Windows Update settings let you determine the best way to update your computer.
Configuring Windows Update settings Using this feature is the easiest way of making sure your computer is upto-date with the latest fixes. Vista downloads any updates for you. What happens next is up to you. You have four options for automatic updates configuration: ■
Install updates automatically. This is the fully automated option that automatically downloads updates for you and proceeds to install the updates. If you are comfortable with Microsoft deciding when and what to install on your computer, there’s no harm in this feature.
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Download updates but let me choose whether to install them. An option similar to the previous one, except that it doesn’t install the files; rather, this decision is up to you. Vista lets you choose which updates to download and when to install updates. Fortunately, once an update is downloaded, Vista lets you decide when it should contact you. After you install an update, Vista asks you if you want to reboot your computer (if necessary) or to postpone it.
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Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them. This choice is good if you are in the middle of an important project. Downloading and updating your computer can be a major drain on your system. Personally, we recommend either this or the previous option. We believe that it’s important to verify and personally approve anything installed on your computer — even an update!
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Never check for updates (not recommended). Windows Vista never updates your computer for you; you’ll have to manually update in order to receive the latest patches, and so on.
Of course, you can also turn off Windows Updates (not recommended). Unlike Windows XP, Vista lets you determine if automatic updates should include both high-priority updates and optional software updates or just the former. Optional updates frequently involve thirdparty hardware or software, which should raise a potential red flag. We recommend only taking high-priority updates into account. For optional updates, check them frequently and make sure you have the necessary resources to update them. What exactly is a high-priority update? This includes critical updates, security updates, service packs, and update rollups that should be installed once made available. The optional updates, as mentioned above, provide noncritical fixes for both Windows and third-party applications. These are optional and should be updated only after you have installed all highpriority updates. Watch Out! The Windows Update Web site used an ActiveX control that must be installed before Internet Explorer can use this feature. Relax, it’s okay. As a rule, be wary of any site wanting to install ActiveX controls, but this is fine. Rightclick the Information bar and then click Install ActiveX control.
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Inside Scoop Microsoft is pretty reactive when it comes to providing updates. If you hear about a new virus or security gap, you can be sure Microsoft will be releasing something within a few days. In the past, the second Tuesday of each month meant a new high-priority update release.
Removing updates Sometimes necessity forces you to remove any updates; for example, some security fixes in the past have actually made computers less stable than before update installation. This isn’t often the case, but it’s important to recognize that it does happen, and that you shouldn’t feel bad about having to roll back an update or fix. There are two steps to doing this. First, from the Windows Update Web site, you can review your update history from the Review your update history link. This displays a list of past installations downloaded from this Web site; this includes the name of the fix and Knowledge Base (KB) number that details the fix. This information is twofold. First, you can consult Microsoft’s support site (http://support.microsoft.com) and look up the KB number. And then you can use the name of the fix to remove it from the Add or remove a program window (see Figure 7.16).
Figure 7.16. The Add or remove a program window keeps any updates separate for other applications.
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Watch Out! If you are also running Microsoft Office on your machine, keep in mind that the Windows Update doesn’t provide updates for the Office suite. To update Microsoft Office, you can access the Update Office Web site from any Office application.
Using the Windows Software Update Service If you have just a few computers to manage, the Automatic Update service works fine, especially over a shared DSL or broadband connection. However, if you’re talking about 25 computers that need to be updated, doing so will strain a network connection if all the computers are downloading the same fixes at the same time. To take care of this concern, Microsoft developed the Windows Software Update Service (WSUS). This service lets you download updates to a company server, and network computers would receive them from this server. In short, updates and fixes are downloaded just once and IP departments can test the code (to make sure it works with the company IT infrastructure) and then schedule a time for the updates to be rolled out across the company. If you have a significant number of computers to update, take a look at the WSUS Web site. You can find out more at www. microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/updateservices/ downloads/WSUS.mspx.
Other Vista security features We’d be remiss if we didn’t at least mention some of the other new security features in Windows Vista. Of course, a number of these are “behind the scenes” and not applications that users can enable to make their Vista experience safer. In fact, there are simply new services built in to Windows Vista that make it an overall safer operating system.
Windows Service Hardening Microsoft developed a new hardware initiative called Windows Service Hardening. The name is strange, admittedly, but it works well in tandem with the Windows Firewall (especially the version available with the
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Windows Live OneCare service). Here’s basically how it works: Service Hardening is a set of network rules that help your computer — in conjunction with Windows Firewall — prevent important Windows services (for example, Remote Procedure Call) from being used inappropriately in the Windows registry, your network, or the file system. This prevents the unauthorized modification of system settings. In the case of our Remote Procedure Call, Service Hardening prevents it from making changes to the registry or randomly replacing system files.
Network Access Protection (NAP) It’s time for your nap! Bad jokes aside, system administrators or IT staff will appreciate the new NAP feature. To help combat ever-prevalent network attacks (which are malicious 99.9999 percent of the time, if not 100), NAP lets you enforce access requirements for your company server. These requirements are “health” related — in other words, is the computer requesting access in good shape. You can set requirements that demand current antivirus software, up-to-date definitions, and recent system scans. When a computer tries to log on to your network, NAP scans the requirements and compares it to the information on the client machine. If the client machine is not “healthy” (does not meet requirements), it’s not getting on. You can think of the NAP as one mean bouncer at a trendy New York club.
Integrated IPsec/firewall management Windows Vista now offers a one-stop location for handling your firewall and Internet Protocol Security (IPsec). You can do both from the new Windows Firewall with Advanced Security feature. By combining both functions, security settings are easier to find. The WFAS feature is useful for handling security needs, such as bidirectional traffic filtering or handling settings for the IPsec server or domain isolation.
Analyze Windows security Earlier in the chapter, we mention the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer 2.0 (MBSA). Although Windows Vista is a complex system, it is still easily vulnerable to outside attacks. Hackers and malware authors often enjoy attacking Microsoft due to its popularity, its omnipresence, and the fact that Windows is synonymous with computers in general. Many of the attacks are due in part to misconfigurations of your Windows system.
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Inside Scoop Microsoft offers two different versions of the MBSA; for Windows Vista, use the latest version of the tool.
One of the first steps Microsoft took to dispel the reputation of being bad with security, not to mention of being a company with openness issues for its technology, was to create the “genuine Microsoft Windows” program. This program validates your copy of Windows and it also checks your system’s security. The MBSA is a quick download that is available at www.microsoft. com/technet/security/tools/mbsa2/default.mspx; this tool is easy to use and helps small and medium businesses determine their security state in accordance with Microsoft security recommendations, and offers specific remediation guidance. It allows you to improve your security management process (see Figure 7.17) to detect common security misconfigurations and missed security updates on your systems.
Figure 7.17. The MBSA tool is a valuable friend when looking for security issues.
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One nice aspect of the MBSA is that it doesn’t have to be installed on every computer; it can remotely scan computers in your network or in your domain for security vulnerabilities. If you administer any size network, this is a good way to find out if any of your computers at home or in a small office have any potential holes in them.
Apply security templates Now that you have a report on the potential shortcomings of your computer’s settings, you can choose to apply a template to your computer and change the settings to the ones recommended for your desired security level. You can also choose to edit the imported template’s settings so that they match your company’s policies. For example, the maximum password age of 42 days may be too few; you can double-click the setting, change it to 90 days, and then rerun the analysis if you want. To apply the template to your computer, open the Microsoft Management Console. 1. Add the Security Configuration and Analysis (SCA) snap-in from the File - Add/Remove Snap-in menu. 2. Right-click the Security Configuration and Analysis snap-in. 3. Click Open Database (see Figure 7.18). 4. An open file window appears. Enter a name for the database; even if this seems counterintuitive, it is the right step. 5. Choose a configuration file to import. 6. Click Configure Computer Now. 7. Type or browse to a location for the error log and then click OK. The SCA snap-in applies all the template settings to your computer. Some of the settings may not take effect until the next time you log out and back on again. Watch Out! If you made any changes to the template, you should export the changes to a new template instead of overwriting the old one. Right-click the SCA snap-in and select Export Template.
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Figure 7.18. The Security Configuration and Analysis snap-in has helpful instructions once you install it.
Install and manage digital certificates Digital certificates figure prominently in Windows Vista. However, it probably won’t affect your day-to-day Windows activities. In fact, you may never notice them until they are set to expire, in which case Vista will remind you of this fact. If you’re not familiar with certificates, they are used for three primary reasons: ■
To identify a person
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To identify a service
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To encrypt files
Certificates act as a public key to perform the above tasks. Most common certificates adhere to the X.509v3 certificate standard and are provided for you automatically. Of course, there are a few cases where you’re on your own. For example, if you want to use a digital signature for protecting your e-mail, or you want to protect your Web site, you need to
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obtain these certificates. The cost varies depending on the provider; Thawte (www.thawte.com/) and VeriSign (www.verisign.com) are two of the most well known certificate providers. Their respective Web sites provide information on their various services and cost schemes.
Using the Certificate Manager Windows Vista features a centralized location where you can manage your certificates; it is called, oddly enough, Certificate Manager (see Figure 7.19). You can open it by typing certmgr.msc in the Start menu search box. The Certificate Manager provides an organized list of the certificates found on your machine (in the Certificates - Current User location).
Figure 7.19. The Certificate Manager.
When you click on a certificate, the right panel displays several bits of important information regarding the certificate. This includes the following: ■
Certificate subject (you)
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Certificate issuer
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Expiration date of the certificate
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Purpose of the certificate
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Friendly name
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Status
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Certificate template
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Bright Idea If you want to search for a certificate instead of sorting through folders, right-click a category in the left pane and click Find Certificates.
If you double-click a certificate, the Certificate window appears (see Figure 7.20). This window features information that is similar to that listed in the right pane. It mentions the purpose of the certificate (in a wordier fashion), the issuer/subject, the validity, and any issuer statement (if any).
Figure 7.20. The Certificate window of the Certificate Manager.
If you want more information on your certificate, you can click the Details tab in the Certificate window (see Figure 7.21). This tab lists extensive information on your certificate, including version details and algorithm information. The Certification Path tab displays the certificate and confirms that it is authentic and reliable. For a number of certificates, you can click multiple certificates and then click View Certificate to view a copy of them.
Managing certificate properties Like most elements in Windows, you can access file properties simply by clicking Edit Properties (see Figure 7.22). You can also access it from the Details tab mentioned above. This Properties page lets you set a friendly
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name and description for your certificate. (Although the certificate may have some outstanding qualities, friendly name doesn’t mean anything other than a common name for it.) You can assign a name to your certificate; if you’re not sure that you’ll remember the correlation between your friendly name and its purpose, you can always add a description!
Figure 7.21. The Details tab of the Certificate window.
Figure 7.22. The Properties window for a certificate.
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You can also manage certificate purposes for the certificate. You have three choices: ■
Enable all purposes
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Disable all purposes
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Enable only specific purposes
Only if you choose the third option can you select/deselect a purpose. Some certificates let you edit purposes or add additional purposes. Most home users probably won’t view certificates; but unless you have reason not to, you can probably leave the default settings. The Cross-Certificates tab (Figure 7.23) lets you add a download URL for your certificate. Cross-Certificates can be used both in an intranet and extranet setting. They are designed to create trust between two separate certificate hierarchies. You can also use them to define namespaces of certificates in one hierarchy and if Cross-Certificates can be used in the second hierarchy.
Figure 7.23. The Cross-Certificates tab of the Certificates Properties window.
The procedures in the following sections can be performed by either an Administrator or a Standard user.
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Requesting a new certificate If you need a new certificate, you can get the ball rolling by right-clicking the Personal folder, selecting All Tasks, and then going to the Advanced Operations menu and selecting Create custom request. This is a rather odd name for this feature, because it helps you to request a new certificate, rather than a custom request (see Figure 7.24).
Figure 7.24. The Certificate Enrollment Wizard.
To request a new certificate: 1. Click Create Custom Request. The Certificate Enrollment Wizard appears. In order for you to use this wizard, you must have an internet connection and be logged on to your domain. Click Next. 2. The next screen allows you to select a template or choose from either the CNG or Legacy keys (neither of which are templates). You can also select a request format. Click Next. 3. Click Next on the Certificate Information screen to accept your selection, or click Details to customize your request. If you do the latter, you can create a friendly name/certificate, set a subject name for the certificate from the drop-down list, set various extensions, or set information related to the public key. 4. You can save a copy of your request in Base64 or binary format. This should be saved to your hard drive or, preferably, a flash drive.
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5. When complete, click Finish. Keep in mind that you cannot request a certificate for a service!
Renewing a certificate A relatively straightforward process, renewing a certificate is also done from the Certificate Manager. Since most certificates have a decent lifespan, you shouldn’t expect to have to do this too often! 1. Click on the certificate to renew in the Certificate Manager. 2. In the Action menu, select either the Renew certificate with new key option or the Renew certificate with same key option. 3. Follow the instructions in the wizard to renew your certificate.
Importing a certificate You can use the Certificate Manager and its wizard to import a certificate (Figure 7.25). However, be very careful about importing certificates. Only import certificates that you are certain are from a reliable source. Importing a hacked certificate could spell big trouble for your system or network if imported. Here’s how to import a certificate:
Figure 7.25. The Certificate Import Wizard.
1. Right-click in the right pane and select Import from the All Tasks menu and Click Next.
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2. Click the Browse button to select the desired certificate to import and then click Next. If requested, enter the password for the certificate. There are also three other options on this page: enable strong key encryption, make the certificate exportable, and include extended properties. 3. Select the certificate store where the certificate will be added. By default, it is added to Personal. However, you can select a different store, or let Vista decide based on the certificate information. 4. Click Next. 5. Click Finish.
Exporting a certificate You may want to export a certificate for use on another computer. This is also a good way to back up your certificate file. As you might have guessed, this is done from the Certificate Manager and its wizard (Figure 7.26). Follow these steps to export a certificate:
Figure 7.26. The Certificate Export Wizard.
1. From the Certificate Manager, right-click on the certificate to export and click Export. The Certificate Export Wizard appears. The wizard asks you if you want to export the private key along with the certificate (which is a public key). If you decide to do this,
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you’ll need to enter a password a little later. If you are performing a backup, do not export the private key. 2. Depending on your answer in Step 1, the wizard will let you select your format. For information on the types of formats, there is a help link at the bottom of the Export File Format page. If you are exporting the file for use on a machine running Windows, you should use the PKCS #7 format (if available). Otherwise, try to use DER Encoded Binary (especially if this is a backup) or Base64 Encoded. 3. If you opted to export the private key as well, enter a password and then verify it. 4. Specify the name of the file you wish to export using the Browse button. By default, it is saved in the Documents folder for the user. 5. Click Finish to close the wizard and then close the confirmation box that appears.
Change Data Execution Prevention settings The Data Execution Prevention (DEP) feature works exactly the same in Windows Vista as in Windows XP. If you didn’t read The Unofficial Guide to Windows XP, we’ll cover DEP again here. DEP is a technology designed to stop exploitation of buffer overrun hacks. Most home users probably never think about such scenarios, but it is important to understand. A buffer overrun occurs when a specific piece of code is flawed and a malicious software program deliberately stuffs more data into the buffer than it can handle. Rather than just toss away the extra code, most applications will attempt to run the additional code. A cleverly crafted piece of malware knows exactly how much data it takes to overrun the buffer, and the executable code begins immediately after that point in memory. DEP attempts to stop this by locking memory and marking it as not executable. Should data overrun a buffer, unless it overruns into an area specifically marked as executable by a program, the excess code will not run. The program may still crash, but at least it won’t spawn something nasty that takes over your computer as it dies. As you might have guessed, there is a catch to using DEP. There are two components to DEP: software code that Windows Vista monitors and manages, and hardware support in your computer’s CPU. The latter is
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only found in the newer 64-bit processors that contain the necessary checks to prevent code from being executed after a buffer overrun. The software portion can be run on any computer that has Windows Vista installed. By default, only essential programs and services have DEP enabled. While, in theory, it would be nice for all applications to have DEP coverage, the reality is that some applications — such as Java applications or software that doesn’t mark generated code with execute permission — have compatibility issues with DEP. Fortunately, DEP does not take an all-or-nothing approach. You can set DEP to apply for all applications, and then place specific applications in an exception list, essentially opting out of the DEP protections in case of compatibility issues. To view and configure DEP: 1. Right-click Computer from the Start menu and open Properties. 2. Click Advanced system settings. The system Properties window appears. 3. Click the Advanced tab. 4. Select Settings in the Performance section. 5. Click Data Execution Prevention (see Figure 7.27).
Figure 7.27. The DEP window.
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Hack You can configure DEP at boot time, instead of switching it off in Windows. Edit the boot.ini file with execution option “/NoExecute-OptIn” (system binaries only), OptOut (all binaries, process exception list), AlwaysOn (all binaries, no exceptions), or AlwaysOff (DEP fully disabled).
If your processor does not have hardware DEP support, you will see a notice to this effect at the bottom of the dialog box. You can still use software DEP, and by default software DEP is enabled for “essential Windows programs and services only.” A casual search at MSDN does not reveal what this list entails, so you just have to take Microsoft’s word for it that they really know best how to protect you. You can choose the Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I will select option, and hopefully gain more protection from buffer overrun. However, the Help and Security Center reports problems with some Windows programs. If you enable the global setting, you should watch to see which programs inexplicably crash, and then add them to the exceptions list. Unless, of course, you expect that the program has been hacked and is crashing because of a buffer overrun exploit. Our best advice is that if you notice system slowdown with DEP enabled, turn it off. If you have more interest in how DEP works, you can read a technical, but detailed, discussion of DEP at http://support.microsoft.com/ default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;875352. Note that this discussion involved Windows XP, but the detail is still relevant for Windows Vista.
Audit computer and security events As one of the main pillars of security, auditing is perhaps the least known and overlooked. When a system crashes, most people reboot, hoping the problem is then sorted. However, did you know that Windows can be configured to audit just about anything that happens on its watch? This includes security issues and performance. This gives you some idea of what went wrong, and in the case of audit events, it provides a warning that unauthorized activity is afoot. Auditing can be done for many things, but the two most connected to security are auditing access policies and auditing file usage. To audit access
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policies, you need to change some settings to the local computer’s policies. This can be done using the Local Security Policy (see Figure 7.28) snap-in for standalone or workgroup computers, or using the Group Policy Editor for computers attached to a domain.
Figure 7.28. The Local Security Policy snap-in.
Determine effective group policies If you are running Windows Vista over a domain, the administrator can apply policies at various levels. These include domain, unit, computer, use, and your local computer. The problem with policies and having so many different levels is that the user can easily become confused, not to mention that it is not uncommon for policies to be in conflict, or indeed contradictory! Fortunately, Microsoft recognized how unpleasant going through all of the policies can be, so they gave us an MMC snap-in to help things out. The Resultant Set of Policy snap-in (Figure 7.29) provides a more extensive look at which policies are being applied and where they came from.
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Figure 7.29. The Resultant Set of Policy snap-in.
To install it, simply 1. Open mmc from the Start menu search box. 2. Use the Add/Remove Snap-in menu to add this snap-in. After it is installed, right-click the snap-in and select Generate RSoP data. The Resultant Set of Policy Wizard (see Figure 7.30) appears. 3. Click Next and then select Logging mode and click Next again. 4. Select This computer and then click Next. 5. Select Current user and then click Next. 6. Review the selection summary before clicking Next. 7. Click Finished at the end of the wizard. The only real downside to this tool is that you must reload the snap-in each time you want to use it. It’s also unfortunate that there is no way to print any of the policy descriptions for future reference.
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Figure 7.30. The Resultant Set of Policy Wizard.
Audit access policies To audit access policies on the local computer, click Start, type Run, type secpol.msc, and then press Enter. You can also launch the snap-in by clicking Start Administrative Tools Local Security Polices Audit Policy (see Figure 7.31). Each policy has three settings: Audit Success, Audit Failure, and No Auditing (no check boxes selected). Recommended settings are: ■
Audit account logon events: Failure
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Audit account management: Failure
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Audit directory service access: Failure
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Audit logon events: Failure
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Audit object access: Failure
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Audit policy change: Success, Failure
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Audit privilege use: No auditing
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Audit process tracking: No auditing
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Audit system events: Failure
After you set these audits, you must log out and back in again to put them into effect.
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Figure 7.31. The Local Security Policy’s Audit Policy.
Audit file access File access is recommended only for particular files and not for entire folders or (!) entire drives. If you attempt to audit all events of all files, you will not only fill up your log file (and overwrite earlier entries when the log “rolls over” to the beginning), but you will quickly get bored digging through pages of information in search of one single event. If you want to audit file permission, there is only one rule to remember: You must use NTFS file sharing rather than simple file sharing. You can turn on permission auditing by following these steps: 1. Right-click the file and then click Properties. 2. Click the Security tab and then click Advanced (see Figure 7.32, which shows result of doing so). 3. Click the Auditing tab, click Add, type in the name of the group or user you wish to audit (only one object at a time please!), and then click Check Names. If the object exists, the group or user will appear with an underscore. 4. Click OK.
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Figure 7.32. The Security tab with Advanced properties.
The permissions can be audited for successful use or failed use. For example, you may have set your accounting program’s database file to full permission for yourself and denied permission to everyone else. You may want to audit failed read, write, execute, and delete permissions on the file. While it’s conceivable that some of the other permissions may be attempted, you don’t need to carry the paranoia too far, unless your company’s policies regarding sensitive information require it. In that case, it’s most likely that audits have been applied at a group policy level anyway. But it’s always nice to know that you can audit so many things that you’ll know when the file so much as sneezes without your permission.
Review the Security log The toughest part about auditing isn’t enabling auditing, but poring over the event log in search of failed events or other indications of misbehavior occurring on your computers. The tool used to view security-related events is, not surprisingly, the Event Viewer. To open the Event Viewer, click Start, Administrative Tools, and then Event Viewer. You can use either an Event Viewer filter to show only the types of events you want to review, or you can use the Find
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command to look for specific event IDs that may have been logged to the Security log file (see Figure 7.33). Some common access audit event IDs to look for are ■
Event ID 529: Unknown username or bad password
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Event ID 530: Log on time restriction violation
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Event ID 531: Account disabled
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Event ID 532: Account expired
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Event ID 535: Password expired
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Event ID 539: Logon Failure: Account locked out
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Event ID 627: NT AUTHORITY\ANONYMOUS is trying to change a password
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Event ID 644: User account locked out
Figure 7.33. The Security log.
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Auditing at home If you are not on a corporate network and have otherwise protected yourself with a firewall, antivirus, and anti-spyware programs, setting up auditing sounds extreme. Who could possibly want to gain access to your system? If you have sensitive information on your computer (bank data, work files, book chapters), or even valuable information (such as family photos), you really can’t afford to take a risk. Unfortunately, many people seem to adopt the “it could never happen to me” attitude and then are angry when it finally does happen. The audit feature can be a valuable friend, like a family dog, that looks out for you and tells all (it does its job, and does it well). If you leave your computer on extensively, think about checking the logs to see if any unauthorized logon attempts occurred.
The truth about Windows Mail Where do we begin with this one? Windows Vista brings you Windows Mail with little or no fanfare. A wolf disguised as a sheep is still a wolf — and Windows Mail is still a bad bet. What’s in a name? Yes, you may have noticed that Outlook Express is now a thing of the past — in name only. It was re-baptized as Windows Mail (see Figure 7.34). Originally, we planned on primarily discussing how to secure Windows Mail. However, we’d be remiss if we did that. Mail, or Outlook Express II, represents one of Microsoft’s darkest hours, and we highly recommend against using it. True, it has a new phishing and anti-spam filter — but who doesn’t? That’s not a sufficient enough reason to use it. If Outlook 2007 is not something you are willing or able to consider, there are a number of other options out there that we find to be much better (and more feature rich). For starters, why not Thunderbird? The Firefox e-mail client is easy to use, priced nicely (read: free), and contains some nice features. Besides the anti-phishing and junk mail features, it also features advanced security features and RSS feeds. It’s yours for the taking at www.mozilla.com/ thunderbird/.
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Figure 7.34. The “brand-new” Windows Mail.
We’re long-time fans and users of Qualcomm’s Eudora. This is a paid e-mail client, but it easily manages multiple accounts, features a rather nice e-mail editor, and also features security features. The price is a bit high, but we really enjoy how comfortable it is. You can use an ad-based version for free — it has all of the features of the paid version; you simply have to endure ads in the interface. You can find out more at www.eudora.com. If you’re the type of user that is always on the go, perhaps Microsoft Live Mail or Web-based e-mail services, such as Google’s Gmail (http:// gmail.google.com/), may be to your liking. Security is well under control for these services; Web mail used to be known as a hotbed for malware activity. The major concern with these is any personal concerns you may have with privacy policies. Watch Out! Though Google’s Gmail is free, you need an invitation to join. By implementing such a practice, Google is trying to prevent any bots or other unauthorized users from compromising their system. You can also obtain an account through an SMS to your mobile phone.
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If you absolutely must use Windows Mail, there are a number of things you can do to assure a better level of security. First, you can work directly with your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and enable their antispam feature. We’d be very surprised if your ISP or Web host service didn’t have some sort of way of blocking spam or dubious e-mails before they reach your mail service. From Windows Mail, you can block a sender (see Figure 7.35). Spammers are increasingly clever; they quickly find ways to “work around” local security settings. Should a piece of spam hit your mail box, you can still block the sender or its domain and silence both forever. Doing this should still be considered an extra step to increasing security. First and foremost, work with your ISP/Web host to set up spam filters. You can also make your Windows Mail safer by blocking attachments. Although this option may not be possible for many users, let us offer an alternative: Don’t open attachments from unknown senders.
Figure 7.35. The Windows Mail Blocked Senders tab.
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Secure Internet Explorer Windows Vista offers increased security features in Internet Explorer 7 (see Figure 7.36). These include a new Protected Mode, which is tantamount to a browser lockdown. These features are aptly detailed in Chapter 10. Let’s continue the conversation there!
Figure 7.36. The much improved Internet Explorer 7.
Just the facts ■
Windows Vista, based on Windows NT code, is considerably safer than previous versions of Windows operating systems.
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Windows Live OneCare is Microsoft’s foray into helping solve problems it helped create.
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The Windows Firewall with Advanced Security is a good “free” firewall that offers bidirectional monitoring.
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Windows Vista has a number of viable, third-party antivirus applications currently available.
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Securing your e-mail is as important as securing the whole of your computer.
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or home users, the multimedia features of an operating system such as Windows Vista account for a large part of the use they give to their computer. So, how does Vista shape up? Could the most recent edition of Windows Media Player finally be the one to give Apple and its iTunes a run for their money? Is the latest incarnation of Windows Media Center the tool that is going to power the digital entertainment system that will soon be at the heart of every home? Will we still be able to upload photos from our old digital cameras — and what will we be able to do with them once we have? This chapter looks at just a few of the ways in which you can work with sound, photos, and video in Windows Vista.
Introducing Windows Media Player 11 Let’s not be coy. Windows Media Player (WMP) 11 is a big, big improvement on previous versions of Microsoft’s digital media player — and much of that is down to the interface. Microsoft seems to have recognized the need for WMP to have a simpler, more visual front-end that in many ways is more akin to Apple’s iTunes. Fortunately, they have managed to produce just such an interface — and not by dumbing it down, as many feared they might, but by smartening it up. 287
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GET THE SCOOP ON... Windows Media Player 11 ■ Windows Media Center ■ Working with cameras and video cameras ■ Using Movie Maker
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Perhaps the most significant impact on the interface comes in the shape of the reconstructed menu buttons that appear at the top of the screen when Windows Media Player is running (see Figure 8.1). Limited to just five main choices, each of these buttons opens up a series of submenus that provide access to a whole host of useful options. Under the Rip submenu, for example, you’ll find options to specify the output format or adjust the bit rate, and under Library you can create playlists or decide which types of media are displayed. That’s not all the menu buttons let you do, of course, and we’ll look at each of them in more detail in the following sections.
Figure 8.1. Revamped menu buttons provide access to a whole host of useful options.
Incidentally, although this new interface is a great step forward, it’s worth pointing out that you also have the option of working with the classic menus that may be more familiar to you from previous versions of Windows Media Player, should you find the new interface a little hard to get used to at first. To do so, simply click the Layout Options button (see Figure 8.2) and then select Show Classic Menus.
Figure 8.2. The Layout Options button lets you customize the interface.
The playback controls that appear at the bottom of the screen (see Figure 8.3) are larger and more inviting, and they include shuffle and repeat options. Their appearance also mimics the controls in the Photo
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Bright Idea If you find that you are missing some album art, you can replace it yourself with any image from your clipboard by right-clicking the album in question, then clicking Paste Album Art.
Gallery viewer, helping ensure a visual coherence that gives a real sense of how the different multimedia components in Vista form part of a whole. The interface also helpfully features backward and forward navigation buttons, which you’ll find in the upper-left corner of the screen, to make sure you never get lost.
Figure 8.3. The playback controls are large and inviting.
Overall, Windows Media Player has become far more visually impressive — or, to put it more bluntly, less boring to look at. The plain text display of previous versions of WMP has been replaced by thumbnails for your photos, screenshots for your video files, and album covers for your music. As well as simply looking nicer (which in itself is no small improvement), this also makes it much easier to find and manage your files. Another feature that gives the player an extra touch of personality is the use of album art. Windows Media Player can track down album art images and ID3-tag info (title, artist, album, track number, or other information about the track) that it uses to update your library automatically in the background.
Getting started with Windows Media Player You can choose from a number of ways to start using Windows Media Player. For example, if you want to listen to an audio CD, simply insert it into your CD-ROM drive and wait for it to load. If you haven’t already set Windows Media Player as your default player, a screen appears proposing a number of suggested actions (see Figure 8.4). Select the option to play the CD; if you are certain that this will always be your response to this window, select the Always do this for audio CDs check box. If you change your mind later, you can always edit this setting in Start Default Programs Change AutoPlay settings.
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Figure 8.4. The AutoPlay dialog box.
Once Windows Media Player is running, you can select any media files (CD, mp3, and a wide array of Windows files — video, TV show, picture, or audio) using the standard Open file dialog box (Ctrl+O). You can select these files either individually or using your standard Ctrl+A (select all) or Ctrl (multiple selection) shortcuts. You also have the option of playing a CD that is in your CD-ROM drive by clicking the Now Playing button, as you can see in Figure 8.5.
Figure 8.5. Play audio CDs in your CD-ROM drive.
Watch Out! Depending on the quality of your CD-ROM drive and the type of CD you are attempting to play (standard music CD, CD-RW, or DVD-RW), Windows Vista may take a little bit of time to load the CD. Don’t be surprised by this; it’s perfectly normal.
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Inside Scoop To minimize CD lag (the time required for Windows Media Player to read your CD), consider ripping the CD to audio files for use with the player. We discuss how to do so in “Rip CDs,” later in this chapter.
Finally, you can play any items directly from your digital library. You’ll find out more about how your library helps you organize your digital media collection in “Manage your digital library,” later in this chapter.
Now playing When your musical selection starts playing, you notice the following: ■
The Now Playing tab is the selected tab by default.
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The Visualization screen takes up most of the Windows Media Player interface. Depending on your settings, it may display the Album Art associated with the music you are playing, or a psychedelic pattern that doesn’t serve any real purpose other than to look good.
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The album title and its track listing (the title of each song and its length in minutes) appear on the right side of the screen, underneath a thumbnail of the album cover. When you roll your mouse over it, the size reduces to display the Album Name, Artist, and Genre, along with a button to buy the track from an online store if you have an active Internet connection. It has to be said, however, that the advantage of being offered the chance to buy a track you clearly already possess was not immediately apparent to us.
Of course, you can now just sit back and enjoy the music. But the fun doesn’t stop there. The Now Playing split button provides you with a number of options for customizing how Windows Media Player handles your media, both how it looks and how it sounds. One particularly interesting addition to Windows Media Player 11 is the introduction of Enhancements. Enhancements are a range of tools that enable you to determine how your media is played. Enhancements include a Graphic Equalizer (see Figure 8.6), Play Speed Settings to let you speed up or slow down tracks, and Video Settings where you can set the hue, saturation, brightness, and contrast of your video output. We found the Crossfading and Auto Volume Leveling Enhancement to be particularly useful when listening to playlists that contain tracks from a range of difference sources; not all tracks are recorded at the same
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volume level, and this Enhancement lets you minimize the aural shock of passing from a quiet track to a loud one.
Figure 8.6. Enhancements such as the Graphic Equalizer let you customize how your media is played.
As mentioned previously, Windows Media Player comes with a number of Visualizations, which are display patterns, organized by category, that react to an audio signal as if they’re “dancing to the beat” of your musical selection. One change in Windows Media Player 11 is that these dancing visualizations can now be replaced by Album Art instead, which may appeal to those who found the previous offerings a little too psychedelic for their taste. Whichever option you select, your chosen visualization is displayed in the main Now Playing area. You can select your desired Visualization in two ways: ■
By clicking the Now Playing split button and selecting the Visualizations submenu.
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By right-clicking the Now Playing submenu.
Visualizations are separated into different categories or collections (see Figure 8.7). From the Now Playing split button, you can download additional Visualizations by clicking Download Visualizations, and you can set certain parameters for some of your existing visualizations by clicking Options. Inside Scoop
Inside Scoop
The Web site www.wmplugins.com is an excellent resource for downloading visualizations, effects, codecs, and other tools for customizing your Windows Media Player experience. At the time of writing, it did not contain any resources specific to Windows Media Player 11, but many of the resources available there work with WMP11 as well.
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Figure 8.7. Visualization options.
Manage your digital library Windows Media Player 11 recognizes the fact that your digital library may have grown slightly from the days when it consisted of nothing more than a handful of mp3 files, photos from your most recent vacation, a few family snapshots, and one or two “humorous” video clips that some friends may have sent you via e-mail. Today’s digital media libraries are made up of thousands of different elements; fortunately, Windows Media Player 11 provides the tools that enable you to find exactly what you’re looking for at any given time. You can now specify the type of media you want to display in your library, rather than having all your media appear at once as was the case in previous versions of Windows Media Player. Click the Library button and then make your choice between Music, Pictures, Video, Recorded TV, or the all-encompassing Other (for any media that do not fall under these first four headings). By default, the media displayed by Windows Media Player is Music.
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You can then sort your media under a range of different headings; in the case of Music, these include Artist, Album, Songs, Genre, Year, and Rating (see Figure 8.8). How likely you are to wake up one morning and say, “I really feel like listening to some songs from 1997!” is open to debate, but this ability to sort your media is a very useful enhancement and takes into account that we each organize our digital content differently. To choose how you want your media to be displayed, simply click the appropriate sort method under Library in the List pane on the left.
Figure 8.8. Sort the digital media in your library.
The search tool is another impressive new feature that simplifies the task of finding a particular media file. Type a search item in the search box (even just part of a word) and you see the results of your search immediately, even before you press Enter. If you are at the root level of your library, the results are broken down by Artist, Album, or Song (if you are looking for music); if you are already in one of the subcategories, the specific results that meet your criteria are displayed (see Figure 8.9). Search results appear quickly, even with very large libraries.
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Figure 8.9. The search tool makes it easier to find items in your library.
Create playlists What’s the difference between a library and a playlist? They do sound somewhat similar. The library is an actual database that stores information concerning your media files on your computer or network. The playlist, on the other hand, is literally a list that you can create (or have created automatically) of
